


hit me when you need it (it's yours)

by ericawrites, killproof



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dorks in Love, Experienced Lance (Voltron), Friends With Benefits, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Getting Together, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Keith (Voltron), Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining Lance (Voltron), Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Possibly Unrequited Love, Recreational Drug Use, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Virgin Keith (Voltron), if you know me irl im so sorry and also if you read this never speak to me again, not a huge part of the plot but there will be no cis keith on MY ao3, this isnt pwp the porn to plot ratio leans more towards plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-10-27 20:19:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17773571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericawrites/pseuds/ericawrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/killproof/pseuds/killproof
Summary: There are five distinct pros and cons to being friends with benefits with Keith.Pro: Keith is…attractive. Lance isn't blind, he's noticed this more than a few times over the course of their friendship.Con: It might ruin their friendship.Pro: He really wants to.Con: Keith might hate him for taking his virginity (even though it is a construct, the sentiment still stands).Pro: He really, really wants to.





	1. rule number one

**Author's Note:**

> title from better by khalid
> 
> we swear to god this was just supposed to be a break fic in between wips. also if you're reading this and you know me irl i'm so sorry 
> 
> bonus: heres a playlist for this fic

Lance kind of wants to strangle his past self for deciding to pick astrophysics as a major. It’s a hard subject, and he _knew_ that when he entered the program, but Lance had thought _‘hey, space is cool!’_ and gone for it.

Curse his stupid, impulsive teenage choices.

From the way that Keith is staring down his own textbook across from him, it looks like he’s regretting the exact same choice. He angrily turns the page for the second time in the last minute, glaring down at the book with tired eyes.

For the past hour, the two of them have been sitting in the library, taking notes on the five _(five!)_ chapters their professor assigned them to work on for homework and swapping notes every now and then just to see if they’re making any sense. Lance would usually be back at his dorm by now, sprawled out on his bed with a facemask drying on his face and soft music playing over his headphones, but drinking lukewarm coffee and studying astro in the unwelcoming library is failing miserably to measure up.

However, as the minutes tick past, Lance is starting to notice that Keith is a little more stressed over this than he is.

 _Okay, maybe a_ lot _more,_ he thinks as Keith nearly rips the textbook page in half with how aggressively he flips it.

“Dude,” He finally says, breaking their silence. “I know that Professor Smythe gives us a shit ton of stuff to do, but this is stressing you out way more than usual. What’s your deal?”

Keith looks up from the textbook, signature frown decorating his expression. “I’m not stressed, just annoyed at this assignment. Now shut up and let me get back to work.”

“Yeesh,” Lance mumbles, twirling his pen loosely between nimble fingers as Keith dutifully looks back down at the textbook and his notes. “Someone needs to get laid.”

At that, Keith stiffens, making Lance’s idle movement stop. Keith’s eyes dart up to catch his gaze, mouth falling open and letting a quiet _‘um’_ slip out.

Lance gives Keith a small smile. “Relax dude, I’m just messing with you.” He says, leisurely starting to fiddle with his pen again.

“Oh,” Keith says, the tips of his ears dusted pink. “Yeah, no─I knew─I mean I just─I haven’t exactly, uh…”

The pen falls from Lance’s fingers, landing on top of his own open textbook with a quiet _thunk_ in the overwhelming silence of the library.

In Lance’s (admittedly minimal) experience, it’s pretty easy to tell when someone has or hasn’t had sex. It was something he’d started to notice after he lost his virginity, little tells that cropped up whenever sex came up as a topic.

Keith is radiating anxiety like a fucking _heatwave,_ notes abandoned and eyes darting away from Lance, but there's absolutely no way─ _no way_ ─that Keith Shirogane of all people is saying what Lance thinks he's saying. Not possible, not with those stupid-pretty eyes, rimmed with dark lashes, or the thick tangle of his hair, or his annoyingly defined biceps, or the way half their astrophysics class follows him with the same lingering gaze that Lance does.

But then pink pools over Keith’s cheeks, across the bridge of his nose, and his eyebrows knit together, fixing Lance with those sharp eyes and mumbling, “Please don't make me say it.”

He’s saying _exactly_ what Lance thinks he's saying.

“Holy shit,” is what slips off Lance’s tongue first, making the pink of Keith’s face deepen red. “Dude. You’ve never had sex?” Keith groans like he’s _dying_ and buries his face in his hands, hunched over the table.

“Say it louder, Lance, I don't think the _fifth floor_ heard you.” He mumbles into his palms, irritation crystal-clear in his voice.

“But you─”

“No! Okay? No, I haven't.” He hisses through his fingers, cutting Lance off.

“No one’s popped your cherry? No one’s creamed your Twinkie?” He asks, grinning despite his surprise. Keith drags a hand down his face, glowering at Lance.

“If you don't shut up, I'm going to shove this pencil down your throat.” He threatens.

“No one's breached your blowhole─”

Keith’s eyes go wide, and he launches across the table to clasp a hand over Lance’s mouth, his face burning a bright red.

“You,” He says, glaring daggers at Lance. “Are the worst human on the planet.”

“Thanks,” Lance replies, muffled against Keith’s palm. Keith scowls and pulls his hand away, wiping it off on Lance’s jacket and sitting back down, glancing at the wall clock in the library.

“Okay, but seriously, it’s totally chill that you’ve never had sex before. Virginity is a construct anyways.” Lance says, leaning forward in his seat. “I was just surprised that no one’s tried getting down and dirty with you.” Keith looks away from the clock, raising his eyebrows at Lance.

“How is that surprising?” He asks, nose wrinkling. Lance’s jaw drops.

“You’re kidding, right?” He sputters. Keith blinks owlishly at him, head tilting as his expression shifts into confusion. “Oh my god, you're not kidding. _Dude,_ literally half of our astro class has been mentally undressing you for the entire semester. They’ve all probably imagined a thousand different ways to get you into bed.”

If possible, Keith’s face darkens another few shades of red. He splutters, struggling to settle on something to say. Eventually, he lapses into an embarrassed silence, opting to hide his face in his open textbook with a muffled groan. Lance snickers at him, moving his pen off of his textbook to turn the page.

Keith lifts his face from the textbook, bright red cheeks down to a pale pink. He’s chewing on his bottom lip nervously. Lance watches him, eyebrow raised as Keith seems to be searching for words.

“How can you tell?” He finally blurts out. “That they all, um, want to sleep with me, I mean.” Lance snorts at his choice of words, giving Keith a lazy grin before letting his eyes drop back down to his textbook.

“Relax mullet. It’s not like there’s a secret _‘I Want To Bone Keith’_ groupchat.” He says nonchalantly, flipping the page and glancing at his half-finished notes.

Keith scowls, reaching for his notebook and tearing out a blank sheet of paper, crumpling it up into a ball and throwing it at Lance. It nails him in the head before bouncing off, falling to the floor.

“I’m serious, Lance.” He says, and _jeez,_ he really does look uncharacteristically serious for such a joking conversation.

“Okay, okay, chill.” Lance says, putting his hands up defensively. “It’s just easy to tell what other people are thinking when you’ve all got the same thing on your mind.” He absentmindedly reaches for his mostly-forgotten coffee, grateful for the distraction but ready to go back to his notes. It seems like Keith has done the same, until he speaks up once more.

“You’ve thought about having sex with me?” Keith says, dumbfounded. Lance chokes, on his drink, coughing harshly as he feels his cheeks heat. Keith just watches, eyes blown wide.

“What?” Lance croaks. “When did I─where did you get─what?"

“You─you _just said_ that you’ve thought about it before!” Keith stutters. Lance looks at him, mouth agape as he realizes─

Oh.

Oh, he did say that, didn’t he.

Huh.

 

“Well,” Lance says, setting his coffee down. “This has been a lovely study session, but if you excuse me, I have to change my name and move to Iceland.”

“I don’t mind that you’ve thought about it.” Keith blurts out. Lance freezes, staring at Keith with wide eyes, his face on fire. Keith takes a deep breath, hands nervously messing with his own pen. “I mean─I know you, and it’s not like you’re _unattractive,_ and we’re friends so it’s not weird and it’s honestly kind of bothered me that I haven’t had sex, and I don’t think you’d be a bad person to lose my virginity to and ohmygod I did _not_ mean to say that.” He babbles, eyes stuck on Lance like he’s helpless to look anywhere else, and Lance isn’t fully convinced that this isn’t a fever dream. Yeah, he definitely passed out from exhaustion while studying and he’s making this up.

A long, silent moment drags out between them while Lance stares, openmouthed, and after a beat, Keith speaks up again.

“Nevermind, you’re not─” He shakes his head, cutting himself off and sighing. “Can we just, um, pretend this whole conversation never happened?” He says weakly, looking up at Lance. Lance blinks once, twice, and comes back to reality.

“No!” He says, much too suddenly and much _louder_ than he intended, and Keith jolts in his seat. “I mean─I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. I was just, surprised that you’d want to?” He says, the intonation coming out more like a question. Keith runs a hand back through his hair, cheeks still flushed.

“Uh, well…” He starts, looking a bit embarrassed. “You’re not the only one who’s thought about it.”

Lance blinks. He blinks again. Pinches himself, just to be sure.

Because─Keith just said he’s thought about having sex with Lance.

It’s a huge ego boost, if he’s being honest, but something hot curls low in his stomach, warming Lance to the core. His mind starts to run wild, starts conjuring images of Keith sprawled out in bed and thinking of _Lance,_ face flushed that same pretty red as he reaches down and cups his─

Lance cuts his thoughts off abruptly, straightening up in his seat, because he is very much still in public and there's _no way_ he’s gonna be sporting a half-chub in the campus library. He may be a hormonal college student, but he's not _that_ bad.

“So…you wouldn't be opposed.” He ventures hesitantly. Keith lets out a quiet, breathy laugh, shaking his head.

“No, I wouldn't.” He says. “God, are we seriously having this conversation?” He laughs again, this time with a tinge of nervousness.

“Hey, nothin’ wrong with some good ol’ friends with bennies!” Lance says, grinning. Keith buries his face in his hands.

“Oh my god, never say it like that again.” He groans, but Lance can see a smile through the gaps in his fingers.

“Just a bro taking a bro’s virginity,” he continues. “Guys being dudes. Dudes sucking dicks.”

“Keep going and I'm gonna cut your dick _off,_ not suck it.” Keith says flatly. Before Lance can say something stupid, like, _‘is that an offer’,_ Keith glances at the clock and his eyes go wide. “Fuck─I have class in twenty minutes, I should go.”

He quickly shuts his textbook, gathering up his notes and packing everything back into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he gets up. He glances back down at Lance, pausing a moment, his expression nervous.

“Do you, uh─wanna talk about this later?” He says carefully, as if there's even a _chance_ that Lance would say no.

“Yeah, of course, dude.” Lance says, offering up a reassuring smile. “Shake on it?” He asks, sticking out his hand toward Keith.

There’s a beat of silence while Keith’s eyes flit between Lance’s face and his hand, then, tentatively, he grabs Lance’s hand with his own. shaking it firmly. Lance grins, making the corners of Keith’s mouth twitch. The two drop hands, leaving Keith to turn and walk towards the double doors of the library.

Lance watches until the doors shut behind Keith, allowing him to turn around and try to focus on his assignment, picking up his pen to take notes. He manages to read about three words before it actually hits him.

He just agreed to take Keith’s virginity.

His grip falls slack, pen dropping to his notebook again as he finally absorbs the past ten minutes of his life.

“Oh my god,” Lance whispers to himself. “I’m going to have sex with _Keith.”_

 

✦

 

The walk to Keith’s dorm is a long one, usually too much of an annoyance for either of them to walk the distance. It's the reason they settle in at the library for study sessions, the reason that hangouts in either of their dorms are rare.

Now, though, Lance couldn’t be more grateful for the walk to give him time to organize his thoughts.

There are five distinct pros and cons to being friends with benefits with Keith.

Pro: Keith is…attractive. Lance isn't blind, he's noticed this more than a few times over the course of their friendship.

Con: It might ruin their friendship.

Pro: He really wants to.

Con: Keith might hate him for taking his virginity (even though it _is_ a construct, the sentiment still stands).

Pro: He really, _really_ wants to.

 

He hasn't really decided whether or note the last two pros really count for anything but his lack of self-restraint before he’s standing in front of Keith’s dorm, and─well, he’s already _here._ Can't bail out now.

He shoots off a quick text to Keith so he can be let in, since he doesn't exactly have the keycard required to get into his building, and waits. The January cold easily pushes its way through his coat, and he shivers slightly, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

A few minutes of waiting (and a few minutes of pacing) later, Keith shows up, flashing Lance a small, nervous smile as he pushes the door open. Lance smiles back easily, walking through the doorway and falling in step with Keith as they walk toward the elevator.

As soon as the elevator door slides shut behind them, Lance knows he needs to diffuse the tension building between the two of them. If this is how they act before they’ve even done anything, how are they expected to act natural _after?_

“So, I’m gonna go on a limb here and say you’ve at least masturbated.” Lance says, because apparently his mouth has decided to operate completely independent of his brain. Keith’s head jerks toward him, his face flushed that now-familiar pink, betraying the pointed scowl the rest of his expression is twisted into.

“Yes, obviously.” He hisses, evidently trying to keep quiet despite the fact that no one else is there to overhear their─admittedly salacious─conversation.

“Okay, good. It’d be pretty sad if you hadn’t, honestly.” Lance replies. Keith huffs, rolling his eyes at Lance.

“Just because I don’t _tell_ you about jacking off doesn’t mean I haven’t, Lance.” He grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Lance shrugs.

“It could be helpful. Tell me about what you like, what you don’t like, what you think about when you get a hand on your─”

“Stop!” Keith yells, shoving at Lance. He laughs, pushing Keith’s arms down. Keith’s red in the face, but there’s a smile spread across his cheeks, and he lets out a laugh almost helplessly, like he couldn’t tamp it down, couldn’t pretend he didn’t think it was funny. Lance beams, laughing along with him.

The elevator dings, the doors sliding open on Keith’s floor. The two walk through the doors, and Keith leads him down the hallway toward his single, the two of them still giggling under their breath. The situation becomes that much more real as they approach the door, and Lance takes a silent moment to thank god (and Shiro’s leeway as a professor) that Keith doesn’t have a roommate.

Keith unlocks his dorm with a quiet _click,_ holding the door open and looking at Lance expectantly before walking in. Lance glups, taking a deep breath to steady himself before following him through the door.

Keith’s dorm is surprisingly sparse─it’s smaller than Lance and Hunk’s, which isn’t strange for a single, but it has most of the same trappings. A desk tucked into the corner, a bed, a dresser. Keith’s familiar red jacket is neatly folded on top of the dresser, his motorcycle gloves laid on it neatly.

Lance wanders over to his bed, sitting down on the edge and bouncing sightly as the mattress moves. The comforter cover is dark red, unsurprisingly, with star-patterned pillowcases. A small nonbinary pride flag is pinned up on the wall at the head of the bed, the handheld gay flag Lance had gotten him at pride last year held up between the headboard and the wall. Lance smiles at the sight─it’s nice to know that Keith appreciated the sentiment at least enough to keep it around.

“So…” Keith says, sitting down at the foot of his bed, his back pressed against the baseboard. Lance turns a bit to face him, offering what he hopes is a comforting grin.

“So…” he echoes hopefully, prompting Keith to speak. Keith fidgets a bit, still visibly nervous, before running a hand through his hair.

“Friends with benefits?” He says, hesitant. “How is this gonna work, exactly?” He asks. Lance shrugs.

“I mean, it's not like I’ve done it before, either.” He admits. “Hookups, yes, fuckbuddies...not so much.” Keith winces slightly when he says _fuckbuddies,_ which is honestly kind of funny.

“We should probably set ground rules.” He suggests and, okay, he’s being much more logical about this than Lance is. To be honest, his thought process had shut down past the point of _get in Keith’s pants._ He tells Keith as much, and he blushes bright red, flustered.

“I'm─I'm gonna get paper,” he manages, sliding off of the bed to head for his desk, opening a random notebook to a blank sheet of paper. He grabs a pen, then turns back to the bed, where Lance still sits. He sits, cross-legged, at the foot of the bed, and clicks the pen open, looking up to meet Lance’s gaze again.

“Any ideas for rules?” Lance asks. Keith hums thoughtfully, then scribbles something put at the top of the paper. Lance cranes his head to try to get a look, but he’s barely caught a glimpse of Keith’s slanted, scrawling handwriting before the notebook is unceremoniously dumped in his lap.

  1. _No hickies where anyone can see them._



“Fair enough,” Lance concedes. “Uh, my turn?” Keith nods, and they're both quiet for a moment while Lance purses his lips, trying to think of a rule.

Given how embarrassed he was at the library earlier, Lance is guessing Keith isn’t too keen on letting everyone know about their predicament. If Lance is really being honest, he doesn’t really want to either. He doesn't think Hunk would ever let him live it down if he found out.

“Nothing sexual in public,” he says, handing the notebook back to him. Keith flushes slightly, as if embarrassed by the mere idea, and writes it down under the first rule. Lance grins─it's surprisingly easy to make Keith blush, something he hadn't expected from his stoic demeanor. Keith pauses a moment, then writes down something else under that.

“I’m assuming this is the general theme of the rules so far so…” He mumbles, handing the notebook back to Lance.

  1. _Don’t tell anyone we’re fucking._



Lance snickers, though he can feel his own face warming at the bluntness in Keith’s words.

“I can deal with that,” he says. “Uh, can we agree not to hook up with anyone else while this is going on?”

“I think it's a given that I'm not getting any, Lance.” Keith says drily, but he takes back the notebook, writing it down anyway. Lance smirks.

“Well, you _weren't._ Who knows what’ll be unleashed once you get some of Lancey-Lance.” He says, winking. Keith makes a face at that, startling a laugh from Lance’s throat.

“Can rule five be that you never call yourself _Lancey-Lance_ ever again?” He says. Lance laughs again, still smiling broadly, but he takes the notebook and pen just in case Keith’s serious.

Looking at the list, it seems to cover pretty much everything, but he still wants to write something else down. Something to ease the tension.

A grin stretches across his face as he finally places the pen to paper, writing down their fifth and final rule. Keith tilts his head slightly as he watches Lance shield the words from Keith’s view.

“Here.” Lance says. Keith takes the notebook, reading the newest rule. He sighs, then fixes Lance with a look as he turns the notebook to face Lance.

“Really?” He says. Lance shrugs, grinning.

  1. _Don’t fall in love with me ;)_



“I think it’s an important rule. This is _friends_ with benefits, after all.” Lance reminds him. Keith sighs.

“Fine,” he says, setting the notebook to the side and grabbing Lance by the collar of his shirt. “Won't be a problem.”

Keith tugs Lance in until the space between them is nonexistent, their lips slotting together easily. Lance makes a soft, muffled noise of surprise against his mouth, but it takes an embarrassingly short time for him to melt into it, to let his hands fall to Keith’s waist, eyes fluttering shut as he adjusts himself better. Keith uncrosses his legs, stretching them out on the bed and spreading them to allow more space for Lance, who eagerly presses forward, situating himself between the splay of Keith’s thighs.

It’s clear that Keith’s at least _kissed_ someone, even if he hasn’t done anything beyond that─clear in the way he moves his lips against Lance’s, in the sudden confidence he has, mostly leading the kiss. Keith bites at Lance’s bottom lip, who groans quietly in response, opening his mouth against Keith’s.

Kissing him is everything and nothing like what Lance thought it would be.

Not one to be undone, Lance lets his hands hands smooth down Keith’s sides to palm at the obvious bulge in his leggings, a nervous energy trailing behind the heat of arousal that overpowers him. Keith gasps a little under the touch, pulling back from the kiss and burying his face in the crook of Lance’s neck. Lance smiles, tugging Keith’s leggings down enough for the tent in his boxers to spring up slightly. His smile pulls a bit wider, finding it cute despite himself, and he tucks his fingers under the hem of Keith’s boxers, stopping momentarily to gauge his reaction.

“Hey, you with me?” He asks, voice quiet in the otherwise-empty dorm. “I just wanna make sure you’re okay with this.” Keith is still against him for a long moment, then moves his head slightly, looking at Lance out of the corner of his eye.

“If your hand,” He says slowly, “Is not on my dick in the next five seconds, I’m going to stab you.”

Lance laughs, finally _(finally)_ pulling Keith’s boxers down and curling his hand around the base of his cock. It's a few inches shorter than his own, but thicker, fitting nicely in his hand when he twists his wrist.

Keith shivers against him, giving Lance more than enough encouragement to begin pumping his hand up and down, loosely wrapped around him. Keith’s hands clutch into fists in Lance’s shirt, his breath hot against his neck. He stays pretty quiet, letting out these soft, stilted noises every so often, low grunts and little gasps, but other than that, he keeps silent.

Lance turns his head to press a kiss against Keith’s temple, then whispers, “Don’t be shy, rojito. Lemme hear you. Wanna hear that pretty voice.” Keith’s swears against Lance’s neck, inviting Lance to speed up his ministrations. Keith gasps a little louder, hips twitching up into the tight circle of Lance’s fist. He still doesn’t seem to be fully out of his head yet, so Lance continues talking, filling the silence for him.

“C’mon, I know you can be a little louder for me,” he coaxes, voice saccharine-sweet as he squeezes the base of Keith’s cock. Keith whimpers, and the noise goes straight to Lance’s own dick, heat pooling low in his stomach. He quickly goes back to moving his hand up and down Keith’s length, taking his time in getting back to the pace he was at before he faltered.

“Lance,” Keith whines, hips now thrusting up in time with each pump of his hand, encouraging Lance to go faster. _“Please.”_

Lance does his best to bite back his own moan, instead grinning, finally speeding up once more. “There you go. Tell me how you’re feeling, sweetheart.”

“Shit─I’m so close Lance, please, I wanna─ _please─”_ Keith begs, breathless, tilting his head up to press his forehead against Lance’s, his eyes screwed shut and face flushed patchy red. Lance presses a kiss to Keith’s lips, still hesitant but firm, then pulls back.

“Go ahead,” he breathes, sure that his own face is just as red as Keith’s at this point. “Come for me, Keith. C’mon.”

Keith lets out a loud groan, head dropping back against the wall as he finally comes, his cock twitching in Lance’s hand and hips jerking up helplessly. Lance murmurs softly into his ear, nipping at his neck and stroking him through it until Keith lets out an overstimulated whimper, batting his hand away weakly. Lance lets go, chucking softly.

“How was that?” He asks, careful to keep his hand off of Keith’s sheets. Keith leans back fully against the wall, still panting slightly.

“Good,” He replies, still breathless. “Really good. Um, tissues are on the desk.” He says, gesturing towards the tissue box.

Lance grins, sliding off the bed to head to the desk, grabbing a few tissues to clean his hand off, then tosses them in the trash bin. He grabs a few more, eyeing his shirt and checking that it (thankfully) was spared from Keith’s jizz. He looks over to Keith, who’s watching him from where he still sits on the bed.

“Did any get on you or the bed? I would have suggested laying a towel down or something, but you were a little too busy jumping me.” Lance says, smirking. Keith scoffs.

“You’re hilarious. Get back here,” He says, moving to tug his boxers back up. Lance obliges, dropping the extra tissues on Keith’s nightstand and helping him move his discarded (and now cum-stained, ew) leggings off the bed. He situaties himself across from Keith, sitting with his legs crossed.

“So, how are you feeling?” He asks.

Keith looks at him carefully for a moment, and then he’s moving towards Lance again, straddling him like it's nothing and pressing a firm kiss to his mouth. He pulls back, a grin on his face while Lance gapes at him, cheeks flushed.

“I’m feeling,” He murmurs, voice dropping low and hands falling to the waistband of Lance’s jeans, hovering over the restricted hardon Lance has been sporting ever since he got Keith’s pants off. “Like it’s your turn.”

 

✦

 

“Dude,” Lance says as he ghosts his fingertips over his neck. “You _mauled_ me.” He sees Keith’s cheeks flush pink in the reflection behind him.

“I did not,” he protests, but even he doesn't really sound convinced. Lance pins him with a flat stare through the mirror, and it takes all of five seconds for him to crack. “Okay, fine, maybe a little!”

Lance hadn't noticed the marks on his neck until he caught of glimpse of his reflection. That's not to say he hadn't realized Keith was _doing_ it─he definitely had─he just didn't think that they would be so, uh…

Noticeable.

The hickies are dark purple against brown skin, dotted along his collarbones and the line of his neck. He can almost track the process of Keith forgetting about his own rule, connect it back to still-fresh memories of canines scraping skin and Keith’s low, rough voice murmuring his name and _okay time to stop thinking about that._

Frankly, Keith seems more embarrassed by it than Lance is, and Lance is the one who’s going to be sporting hickies for the rest of the week.

“I won’t do it again,” Keith promises, looking legitimately worried that Lance might be _mad,_ as if this is a problem and not ridiculously hot.

“Dude, it’s fine.” Lance says, giving him a reassuring smile. “It was your rule, you get to break it.”

“I─I’m not breaking─I didn’t mean to─” Keith cuts himself off with a groan, slapping a hand to his forehead then dragging it down his face. “You’re insufferable.”

“And yet, you left a fuck ton of hickies on me.” Lance replies, tugging at his collar to show off the dark purple marks on his collarbones. Keith sighs, looking up at the ceiling. Lance snickers, turning to face him, and Keith meets his gaze, still looking slightly apologetic.

“Relax, I’ll just put some concealer on them. I should have enough to cover most of it, the rest will just be covered by my shirt.” Keith seems to lose the tension in his shoulders at that, his expression relaxing into a small smile. The two stay there, then Lance finally claps his hands together.

“Well, while I’m here, should we study?” He asks. Keith hums, considering, then nods.

“Yeah, sure.” He says. He lets out a soft, breathy laugh. “Orgasms then astro. Great.” Lance grins, giving him an over-exaggerated wink.

“Hey, if you play your cards right, we can do this every time.” He says. Keith raises his eyebrows doubtfully, leveling Lance with a flat look.

“If we fucked every time we had to study for astro, I think we’d just work ourselves into exhaustion.” He says.

“Uh, sounds like a challenge.” Lance shoots back, waggling his eyebrows. Keith rolls his eyes, hauling his astro textbook out of his bag and settling back onto the bed.

“Shut up and help me make sense of this,” he says.

  
Lance follows easily, and, plopping down next to him and quickly falling into their usual argument over exactly what Professor Smythe means when he says that he _‘would know firsthand’_ about galaxy formation, he wonders why he ever thought something could ruin his friendship with Keith.


	2. rule number two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re about a week into their friends with benefits deal and halfway to the cafe where they’ve agreed to meet their friends when Keith says, “I crossed out the hickey rule.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keith: how should we have lance realize his feelings  
> me, sweating: uh,

They’re about a week into their friends with benefits deal and halfway to the cafe where they’ve agreed to meet their friends when Keith says, “I crossed out the hickey rule.”

Despite having had the agreement for about a week, they haven’t actually gotten to…fucking, to be blunt. Lance doesn’t mind, since the reason this whole thing started was because of Keith. He’s fine going at Keith’s pace, however fast or slow that may be.

Lance snorts, adjusting the scarf around his neck. “Wouldn’t have to cross it out if  _ someone _ wasn’t so keen on covering my entire neck in them.”

Keith opens and closes his mouth, then settles for crossing his arms and letting out an annoyed grunt, eyebrows knitted together.

“Aww,” he coos, throwing an arm over Keith’s shoulder. “Don’t be grumpy, babe.” Predictably, Keith bristles at the pet name, scowling, but Lance has long since noticed the pink flush to his cheeks when he calls Keith something like that. 

“Whatever,” Keith grumbles. “I just figured it's stupid to have it on the list if I'm not even following it.” He says, eyes pointedly averted from what he knows firsthand that Lance’s scarf is covering at the moment. 

“Does this mean I get to leave some?” Lance asks, grinning. “I feel like I should even out the score.”

“There’s no score, Lance. I just─” Keith cuts himself off, face burning. “Do whatever you want.” He mumbles. 

“Aye-aye,” Lance jokes, giving him a little two-fingered salute. Keith rolls his eyes, shrugging Lance’s arm off his shoulder.

The two walk in silence for a few moments longer before Keith suddenly blurts: “It’s hot, okay?”

Lance gives him a look, watching Keith’s face turn an even darker shade.

“When you have the, um─hickies. It’s hot. That’s why I keep doing it.” He admits, pointedly looking away from Lance. Lance’s jaw drops, face flushing as he stares at Keith.

“Are you fucking with me?” Lance asks. Keith whips his head to glare at him.

“No! Jesus. I like it, and I know for a fact that  _ you _ like it, considering how fast you came when I─”

“Okay, okay!” Lance yells, glancing around. “Point made, christ.” He laughs. Keith rolls his eyes at him, and they walk in comfortable silence until they reach the campus café, pushing the door open and walking in out of the cold.

They spot Pidge and Hunk easily, tucked away in a corner booth with coffees set out in front of them and Pidge typing away at her computer. Lance goes up to order drinks for the two of them, while Keith makes a beeline for the booth, shedding his coat as he goes. Lance recites both his and Keith’s order by heart, pays, then stands aside to wait.

It’s noticeably warmer in the café than it is outside, making Lance unzip his jacket. He watches as Pidge, Hunk and Keith talk quietly amongst themselves, his lips quirking into a small smile when Keith chuckles at something Hunk says.

Lance’s name gets called, and he turns to grab both drinks. He thanks the barista, then heads to the booth.

“For you, good sir.” He says, carefully placing Keith’s hot chocolate in front of him. Keith takes the cup gingerly, offering a small  _ ‘thanks’  _ as he curls his fingers around the still-hot mug.

(Almost like how he curled his fingers around Lance’s─nope, no, not the time.)

Lance places his own drink down, then shrugs his coat off. He sits down on the overstuffed vinyl seats, hands going to unwrap his scarf to avoid overheating in the warm café.

“Oh my god,” Pidge says from across the booth. Lance looks up from tugging his scarf off, eyebrows furrowed. Hunk is gaping at him from his spot next to Pidge, eyes wide.

“Dude, were you  _ attacked?” _ Hunk asks. Lance makes a face, confused, as he shoves the scarf in his jacket pocket. Next to him, Keith kicks him in the shin from under the table, and Lance tries not to wince. 

“What?” He asks, lost.

“Your  _ neck.”  _ PIdge replies. “God, that’s gross, Lance. Don't you have something to cover them up?”

Lance’s hand flies up, fingers brushing delicately over his neck and collarbone, recalling how Keith had eagerly sucked and bit at Lance’s neck while grinding against him just the night before, textbooks and assignments forgotten. They'd been more than a little riled up from the pressure that exams were bringing, and a good part of their, uh,  _ arrangement,  _ is for stress relief, so… 

His face flushes, and he does his best to push the memory away because he does  _ not _ need to pop a boner in the middle of the coffee shop, thank you very much.

Instead, he winks, propping his elbow on the table and settling his chin on the palm of his hand. 

“What can I say, the ladies can't get enough of me.” He says, grinning. Pidge makes a gagging noise, then turns back to her laptop, going back to her work. Hunk just grimaces, while Keith snorts into his hot chocolate. Lance glares at him, and Keith─the smug, hot asshole─smiles back innocently. 

Hunk launches into a story from his bioengineering class, hickies evidently forgotten, and Lance slouches down in his seat, shoulders bunching up around his neck.    


It’s going to be a long afternoon.

 

✦

 

Okay, here’s the thing.

Objectively, Keith is a really good-looking guy. Lance knows it, Hunk knows it, Professor Smythe’s entire noon astrophysics class knows it─it’s not hard to miss. That naturally causes some…thoughts to occur. Especially with someone who appreciates pretty people as much as Lance does. Thankfully─because Lance is a thoughtful person and friend─those thoughts have been contained.

Until now, evidently. 

Since Lance and Keith started their agreement, Lance’s brain seems to have taken it as a green light to bring those thoughts back to the forefront of his mind, which is, uh. More than a little distracting. 

On the way from Keith’s dorm (where, yes, Lance totally got back at him for breaking the hickey rule) to the library, Keith ties his hair back. Which, to be fair, he’s done about a thousand times before. But with the added memories of Keith moaning under Lance’s touch, eyes screwed shut and face red, it’s kind of hot. Like, way-more-than-usual hot. If he were anyone else, Lance would already be breaking out his best lines.

“What?” Keith asks, blinking at Lance curiously and alerting him to the fact that he  _ may _ have been staring a little longer than could be considered strictly platonic. Lance rips his gaze from Keith’s profile, face flushed, and pointedly looks anywhere and everywhere but for him. 

“Nothing. Just─lost in thought.” He replies. Keith hums, then drops the topic as they lapse back into silence for the rest of the walk. He pushes open the library doors, pausing and holding them open for Lance as they walk into the building. 

“Okay, so.” Keith says, turning to Lance and rolling his sweater sleeves up to his elbows. “Do we need to get any books?” 

Lance blinks, mouth dry as his eyes fall to Keith’s arms. The muscle of his biceps strains against the thin fabric of his sweatshirt, bulging when Keith crosses his arms over his chest, and Lance just. breaks.

He grabs Keith by the wrist, tugging him into one of the empty study rooms and shutting the door firmly behind them. He whirls around to face Keith, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Okay, you win.” He says. “You can stop now.” Keith gives him a curious look, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“Uh, what?” He says. “I'm not doing anything.” He brushes a hand back through his hair, tucking part of it behind his ear where it had fallen out of his ponytail, as if to disprove his own point.

“Ugh! You’re so─” Lance says exasperatedly, squirming. “Is this you trying to even out the rule-breaking? Is that what you’re doing?” Keith’s expression twists, his lips twitching into a frown.

“What the fuck are you even saying?” He asks. “Did you finally lose it?”

“No!” Lance shrieks. “You're─you're being all─suggestive!” 

Keith eyebrows pull tighter together.  _ “What?” _ And, oh god, he legitimately doesn't know what Lance is talking about. 

“Noooo,” He groans, burying his face in his hands. “You don't even  _ notice _ you're doing it, that's so much worse.” 

“How am I being  _ suggestive?”  _ Keith sputters, evidently deciding to focus on that. 

“I don't know!” Lance fumbles, cheeks warming. “You were just─doing stuff that was kinda─y’know.” He watches as Keith’s expression falls into something calmer, more confident. Keith leans into him, and for a moment Lance thinks they're about to kiss, but he reaches around him to lock the door to the study room, pulling the shade on the small window by the door down. 

“I don't know, actually.” Keith says, expression unreadable and eyes dark. “You could just tell me, Lance.” His name rolls off Keith’s tongue slow, his tone making heat pool in Lance’s stomach. Lance gulps─he's not really sure where Keith is going with this, but, uh…it's safe to say he's not exactly opposed. 

“You were just─ _ um,”  _ he tries, voice cracking when Keith sinks to his knees in front of him, eyes still trained on his face. Keith tilts his head, as if he has no idea why Lance is freaking out, and smooths his hands up Lance’s thighs, coming to rest on his hips.

“Don't let me stop you,” he says, perfectly calm. 

“Uhh,” Lance says, head spinning as Keith methodically unbuttons his pants, tugging the zipper down. “You were─you rolled up your sleeves…” 

“Mhm.” Keith says. “How’s that sexual?” He asks, nonchalantly pulling down Lance’s jeans. His dick is straining at his underwear now, nearly hard enough to brush Keith’s cheek, but Keith doesn't seem bothered as he looks up at Lance expectantly. 

“You have, um,” he starts, letting out a frankly pathetic sound when Keith starts to palm him through his boxers. “Really nice biceps.” 

“Yeah?” Keith says, voice dropping low and gravelly. “Thanks.” He pulls down Lance’s boxers then, nosing at the base of his cock. His eyes finally move away from Lance’s, breaking the searingly intense eye contact he’d been holding. 

“Uh-huh,” Lance says dizzily, sighing when Keith finally wraps a hand around him, fingertips barely meeting around the thick base. “Fuck… _ so _ fuckin’ nice, Keith.” 

“Tell me what else I did, Lance.” Keith instructs, and shit, how could he ever say no to someone down on their knees for him. 

“You put your hair up,” he says, breathless as Keith presses his lips to the tip of Lance’s cock. “So fucking hot, babe, shit─!” The rest of his sentence cuts off into a low moan as Keith wraps his lips around him and sinks  _ down.  _

Lance twists his fingers into Keith’s hair, messing up that  _ stupid _ ponytail, pushing Keith’s bangs back out of his face and watching how those thick brows knit together in concentration, spit-slicked pink lips stretched around Lance’s length.  _ Fuck,  _ he’s never gonna be able to look at Keith again without thinking about this, but he's too blissed-out to even care. 

The blowjob is amateur, messy, but Keith more than makes up for it with how blatantly he enjoys it, how his hands grip Lance’s hips and press them back into the door when he unintentionally bucks into Keith’s mouth. His thumbs slot comfortably into the divots of Lance’s hipbones, stroking almost comfortingly against his skin as Keith sucks him off. 

Then, in the same moment that Keith swallows, his throat working around Lance's dick, Lance hears the distinct sound of someone knocking on the door.    
  
He freezes, fingers still knit into Keith's hair, but Keith either doesn't hear or doesn't care, because he keeps going, bobbing his head slightly and pulling a barely-stifled moan from Lance's throat. His eyes flutter shut, lashes kissing flushed cheeks, and hums around Lance's length the same time as the person on the other side of the door tests the handle, and Lance comes down Keith's throat with a choked whimper.    
  
Keith's fingers dig into his thighs, and Lance feels the push of his gag reflex against the skin of his cock, but he holds himself there with his nose pressed to Lance's stomach. His eyes flit up to meet Lance's as he swallows, slow and deliberate, looking up at him through his eyelashes. His eyes are dark and glinting in the shadow of the room, and Lance kind of feels like he's going to die.

He pulls off slowly, hands falling from Lance’s thighs as he sits back on his heels, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“Well,” he says, voice scratchy. “Guess that's another rule to cross off.” 

 

✦

 

_ ( “Why did you even write the rule about no sex in public if you’re into exhibitonism?”  _

_ “I thought you’d be uncomfortable with it!” _

_ “I just sucked you off in a  _ library,  _ Lance.”  _

_ “Shut─Shut up.” ) _

 

✦

 

It takes a couple weeks after the second rule being broken (and consequently crossed out) for being in public without people nearby to quickly snowball. Lance is honestly surprised they made it that long, actually.

They would go from bickering, to quips, to teasing, to Keith reaching up and attempting to rub Lance off under the table with his foot. So, out of the not-entirely-unfounded fear that they were going to eventually tip off one of the faculty in the library, they had to take things back to Keith’s dorm.

Which…really wasn’t a good idea, considering how they pretty much forget studying instantly and instead wind up with Keith’s legs wrapped around Lance’s waist, pressed against his dorm wall as the two enthusiastically make out, bags discarded and textbooks forgotten.

“Bed,” Keith pants, tugging at the collar of Lance’s shirt as he bites at the junction of his shoulder and neck. “Now.”

Lance obliges, steadying himself to carry the two of them to the bed. He drops Keith on the bed first, who snorts at him, then climbs in after, quick to slot their mouths together once more.

Of course, in between kisses, Keith comments, “You really need to work out more.”

Lance glares at him, then ducks his head to nip at his neck once more, earning him a gasp. Lance grins, then goes back to work on leaving as many hickies as possible. He leaves wet kisses up the column of Keith’s exposed neck, sucking over the pulse point. Keith groans, hips rutting against Lance’s, and Lance hides his responding moan as he bites into Keith’s neck, kissing and sucking as he slowly makes his way back down. 

Keith whines under him, tugging at the hem of Lance’s shirt insistently. He obliges, sitting up and pulling away from marking up Keith’s neck, taking his shirt off and letting it fall to the floor. Keith struggles to take his own off, but eventually it falls to the ground in the same place as Lance’s. 

As soon as Keith’s shirt is over his head Lance gets to work on his pants, unbuckling them and tugging down the zipper. Keith lifts his hips off the bed to provide for easier access, making a noise of relief as Lance manages to get them off and throw them to the floor. Keith’s hands reach for Lances, tugging at his joggers. Lance helps him in taking them off, then is quickly tugged back into a searing kiss.

Keith is aggressive, needy as his hips push up against Lance’s, trying to set a rhythm. He gasps into Lance’s mouth when he grinds back into him, dick still straining at his boxers. Lance gently bites at Keith’s bottom lip, pulling a groan from low in his throat.

“Lance,” Keith pants, face red. “Can you─uh.” He goes still against Lance, making Lance stop instantly. Lance pulls away, eyes scanning Keith’s features to make sure he didn’t cross a line.

“You okay?” Lance asks, sitting back on Keith’s thighs to allow him some space. Keith props himself up on his elbows, looking away from Lance. His face is still flushed, lips pressed together in a line.

“I uh…kind of wanted you to do something…to me.” He replies slowly. Lance raises his eyebrows, curious.

“What did you want me to do?” Lance asks. “‘Cause if this is your way of telling me you wanna try some kinky shit, I probably wouldn't be opposed─”

“Oh my god, I just want you to finger me!” Keith yells, flopping back on his back and hiding his red face in his hands. Lance gapes at him, heat curling low in his abdomen as he takes in what Keith just said. Shyly, Keith looks at him between his fingers, and something in Lance snaps.

“I─shit, where’s your lube?” He asks, heart pounding. Keith’s eyes widen marginally, like he expected Lance to say no, then licks his lips, shifting back up onto his elbows. 

“Bottom drawer of my nightstand.” He answers quickly. Lance raises his eyebrows at him, smirking, and Keith rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”    


Lance mimes zipping his mouth shut and reaches past Keith toward his nightstand, pulling the bottom drawer open and taking out a bottle of lube that looks─ahem─used. He gives Keith a knowing look as he makes himself comfortable between Keith’s thighs, and Keith pointedly looks away from his smug smile, pushing his boxers down his hips and kicking them off. 

Lance uses his free hand to get a solid grasp on Keith’s hip, tugging him closer (and he may or may not cop a feel in the process─what can he say, Keith has a nice ass). Keith lets out a startled little noise, which is cuter than it has any right to be, but acquiesces easily, his hands sprawled on either side of his head and already gripping at the sheets a bit. Lance grins.

“Excited?” He asks, flipping the cap of the lube bottle open with a soft  _ click _ . Keith lets out a soft little huff that could either be out of frustration or amusement, and rolls his hips against the mattress.

“You wish, Álvarez.” He says, tone threatening and standing in stark contrast to how his cock is leaking pre onto his stomach, flushed red at the tip. Lance hums, deciding not to shatter the moment by falling into bickering, as easy as it would be. He’s got better things to do right now.

Lance squeezes the bottle of lube, spreading a generous amount on his fingers and warming them. He brings his hand closer to Keith’s ass, then pauses.

“You sure?” He asks. Keith groans, covering his face with one arm.

_ “Yes, _ Lance.” He says, mild irritation clear in his voice. Lance chuckles, then reaches up to move Keith’s arm out of his eyes. Keith meets his gaze, and Lance keeps him there, then slowly pushes his middle finger into Keith. His breath hitches slightly as Lance’s finger sinks in the knuckle, and Lance leans down to press gentle kisses along the line of his neck. Keith squirms slightly as Lance starts to move his hand, thrusting his finger in and out, still keeping a slow pace to let him get used to the intrusion.

“Lance,” Keith breathes, reaching up to grip at Lance’s bicep. “C’mon. Another.”

“Are you sure?” Lance asks, looking up briefly from where he’s currently sucking hickies onto his pecs. Keith sighs, leveling him with a glare.

“I’m not gonna  _ break _ , Lance.” He replies. Lance shrugs, then slides his index finger in alongside his middle. Keith groans, letting his head fall back against the pillow.

There’s something here, something about the vulnerability that Lance is facing, with Keith naked and pilant in front of him him, hips rolling up into his touch as Lance pumps his fingers in and out, scissoring them apart then letting them come back together. There’s something about the way that Keith flushes all the way down to his chest, eyes screwed shut and soft moans falling from red-bitten lips when Lance crooks his fingers just right. 

Once again, Lance is reminded of how stunning Keith is. It’d be impossible not to see it with him in front of Lance like this, dark hair splayed out on the pillow and legs spread, red marks slowly darkening where Lance left them down his neck and chest. 

Lance presses in a third finger once it feels like Keith’s loose enough, and Keith’s eyes flutter back open, big and dark and looking right up at him, glinting in the light. Lance finds himself unable to look away, lost in the way Keith’s pupils are blown out, hips rolling along with the new intrusion.

Oh, Lance really is an idiot if he thought that his attraction to Keith was only platonic.

In this moment, with Keith, hair spread out around him like a halo, arms holding onto Lance like he’s a lifeline, mouth agape and face flushed, Lance swears he’s never seen anything as beautiful.

_ “Lance,”  _ he says, breathless and half-moaned, and Lance freezes. “There─fuck, please─”

Lance snaps back out of his stupor, suddenly recalling exactly what he’s doing. He lets a shaky grin take over his features despite how painfully he’s freaking out, because  _ he likes Keith.  _ What the fuck, he  _ likes _ Keith.

“Like that, honey?” He asks, the pet name rolling easily off his tongue, curling his free hand around Keith’s neglected cock as he continues pistoning his fingers in and out of him. Keith responds with a moan, hips jerking up a bit erratically when Lance dips his head down to take Keith’s dick into his mouth, slowly bobbing up and down. Keith lets out a choked moan, and Lance hears the  _ thump _ as his head falls back against the pillow, chin tipped up.

Admittedly, it’s difficult to multitask, but Lance works himself into a rhythm, crooking his fingers and humming around Keith’s cock, making him gasp and moan, hands moving to grip at Lance’s hair and shoulder, scratching and tugging.

Lance twists his fingers once more, curling them up against Keith’s prostate and swallowing around his cock, making him let out a loud moan of Lance’s name, hips jerking up again as he finally comes.

(The taste is bitter, and more than a little gross, but Lance has sucked dick before, and he doesn’t want to leave any mess behind, so he swallows what he can.)

FInally, when Keith slumps back onto the pillows, trying to catch his breath, Lance moves off with a slick pop and slowly removes his fingers. Keith grunts, tensing up a bit, but relaxing once more once Lance’s fingers are out.

“You good?” Lance asks, shifting off of the bed to reach for Keith’s tissue box (now moved to the nightstand per Lance’s request), doing the best to clean off the leftover lube on his hand.

“Jesus─you make me come that hard then ask if I’m  _ good.” _ Keith responds, still a little breathless. He stretches out a bit, back cracking. “Fucking obviously, yes.” Lance laughs, tossing the tissue out and climbing back into bed.

“Just gimme a sec,” Keith says. “Then I’ll take care of you.”

Lance grins, laying down next to Keith, still reeling a bit because─what the fuck, he likes Keith─and makes himself comfortable. “After that, I wouldn’t be surprised if you needed to─mmph!"

Keith cuts him off with a kiss, suddenly moving to hover over Lance, hands braced on either side of his shoulders. Lance just stares up at him, wide eyed as Keith trails his hands down his bare chest.

“Nah,” Keith breathes. “I’m good.” His eyes are lidded and voice low as he looks down at Lance, and god, he is  _ so _ far gone.

 

✦

 

“Shit,” Lance swears, glancing at the clock. “It’s late.”

“Oh,” Keith replies, tugging on a clean pair of boxers. “Just spend the night here, then. It's not like you haven’t before.”

Lance wants to remind him that him spending the night only happened  _ before _ they started their agreement (and before he became aware of his soul-shattering crush, but that’s a whole other topic), but he just sighs and drops his joggers, deciding just to sleep in his boxers for the night. He grabs his phone to send off a quick text to Hunk to tell him where he is, then digs through his backpack to find his charger and plug it in for the night. 

Keith’s ready before him, climbing into bed and settling under the covers. Lance watches him eyeing the long red lines that he had scratched into Keith’s back, then makes his way into the bed, careful to avoid kicking Keith as he settles into his place next to the wall. Keith hums, turning over to face him and reaching up to touch the bite marks littering his neck and small scratches scored along his shoulders.

“Sorry,” Keith mumbles, eyes starting to droop. Lance chuckles, placing his hand over Keith’s and praying he doesn’t feel the anxious pounding of his heart.

“It’s fine, man. Clearly I liked it.” Lance replies. Keith hums, shifting so he’s closer to Lance.

“S’cold.” He says, so Lance, eternally weak for Keith, gathers him closer to his chest as he lays on his back, pulling the blankets tighter around the two of them.

“Better?” Lance asks. Keith hums again, nodding as he presses his head against Lance’s chest, arm lazily splayed over his bare torso. Keith’s eyes have already fluttered shut, and Lance can feel his own start to get heavy.

“Goodnight.” Lance whispers, ducking his head to press a soft kiss to the top of Keith’s head. Keith doesn’t respond, drifting off easily, his head tucked under Lance’s chin.


	3. rule number three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance slowly sits up in bed, careful not to jostle Keith awake, when the door to his room swings open, and in steps Shiro, holding a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee. Lance freezes, blood rushing from his face as Shiro makes eye contact with him, mouth slightly agape as he halfheartedly kicks the door shut.
> 
> Lance knows how this looks. Him, half-naked in Keith’s bed with hickies littered down the line of his neck and across his chest. The blankets barely cover Keith, either, the scratches Lance had dug into his back the night before still red against his shoulderblades.
> 
> “I can explain.” Lance says quickly, watching as Shiro’s eyes dart between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof this is late, but hope yall enjoy

Lance wakes up to golden sunlight streaming through the window blinds.

He blinks once, twice; sleepiness slowly but surely fading, and sits up in bed, rubbing at his eyes. He turns to face his alarm clock and check the time, stopping when he realizes that there’s a body sprawled out next to him.

His thoughts slowed by sleep still clinging to him, it takes him a moment to remember that he slept over at Keith’s dorm the night before. He blinks the tiredness out of his eyes, smiling softly as he watches how Keith’s chest rises and falls steadily, eyelids twitching and lashes fluttering. Almost out of his own control, he reaches forward, gently brushing Keith’s bangs out of his face.

He sighs, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to pull away. He’s not about to be a creep and stare at Keith while he sleeps. 

Lance slowly sits up in bed, careful not to jostle Keith awake, when the door to his room swings open, and in steps Shiro, holding a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee. Lance freezes, blood rushing from his face as Shiro makes eye contact with him, mouth slightly agape as he halfheartedly kicks the door shut.

Lance knows how this looks. Him, half-naked in Keith’s bed with hickies littered down the line of his neck and across his chest. The blankets barely cover Keith, either, the scratches Lance had dug into his back the night before still red against his shoulderblades.

“I can explain.” Lance says quickly, watching as Shiro’s eyes dart between the two of them. His mouth closes, then opens, then closes again.

“You can _ explain _ why you’re naked in my little sibling’s bed?” Shiro says, eyebrows raised. Lance shudders, then kicks off the covers and maneuvers himself around a still-sleeping Keith, who just mumbles in his sleep and shifts a little. Lance gently climbs off of the bed, standing across from Shiro as he grabs the nearest shirt to tug on.

“How long has this been going on?” Shiro asks. Lance thinks back, shrugging.

“Like, a month? We really didn’t want to tell anyone, cause─y’know.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to tell anyone that the two of you were together?” Shiro asks, disbelief coloring in his voice. Lance blinks, then gasps.

“Ohh, you think we’re…we’re not together, Shiro. This is just─we’re just─we’re not dating.” Lance stammers, trying and failing to find a moderately polite way to say  _ ‘oh, yeah, I’m your baby sibling’s fuckbuddy. NBD’.  _ Shiro stares at him, unmoving, his eyes narrowed.

“You’re not together? But you’re─oh for god’s sake.” Shiro groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he seemingly puts the pieces together. “Are you two  _ friends with benefits?” _

Shiro’s freakout seems to be enough to wake Keith, who groans and stirs, lifting his hand as he tiredly raises his middle finger in the general direction of his brother.

“Shut the fuck up, Takashi.” He mumbles, turning over in bed. His hand reaches for something─ _ someone, _ Lance realizes, as his hand falls where Lance was barely a minute ago. He watches, waiting for Keith to fully wake up

“Lance,” Keith mumbles, his face still half-shoved into the pillows. “M’cold. Get back in bed.” Lance feels his face go red, mouth falling open as Shiro makes a pained noise in the back of his throat. Lance looks back at Shiro, then at Keith, then back to Shiro.

“I,” Shiro declares. “Am leaving. I want to see the two of you in my classroom later this afternoon to have a little chat.” With that, he places the paper bag on Keith’s desk, leaving one of the coffees behind, and quickly leaves the room. Lance is still standing stock-still when the door clothes behind him, heart pounding rapidly as he tries to absorb the past five minutes.

“Lance, get back here.” Keith groans again, sitting up a bit. “We can deal with him later, I just wanna cuddle.” He blinks big, sleepy eyes up at him, and Lance feels his mouth go dry at the sight of him all soft and sleep-rumpled─his hair messy and falling in his face, eyelids drooping closed, his cheek squished cutely against the pillow. Fuck, how can he say no to  _ that? _

He can’t, basically. He crawls back under the covers like a coward with no self-control and a giant, stupid crush, lets Keith tuck his head against his chest and hook his leg around the back of Lance’s knees, bringing him in closer. Hesitantly, Lance wraps his arms around Keith’s waist, relief melting through him when Keith lets out a pleased little noise in response and drapes his arm over Lance’s hip. 

This isn’t exactly new for them─Lance is a tactile person, and they’d cuddled even when they were just friends, but ever since Lance realized his feelings, it’s felt so...different. Even though nothing really changed except for how he thought of it.

Lance buries his face in the tangle of Keith’s bedhead and hopes he doesn’t feels the kiss he presses there.

 

✦

 

“Okay, so, here’s what I think.” Lance says, nervously glancing toward the door of Shiro’s office. “Instead of subjecting ourselves to this, we could just─run away. Y’know? Fuck college, let’s become mountain people. I really think we’d be good mountain people, Keith, we can─”

“Lance.” Keith says flatly, cutting him off. “Stop freaking out. He’s not gonna kill us.”

“He’s not gonna kill  _ you,”  _ Lance retorts. “You’re his sibling. Oh god, I deflowered Takashi Shirogane’s  _ sibling,  _ he’s gonna maim me. I’m a dead man walking, Keith!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as dramatic as you.” Keith deadpans. Lance glares at him, unamused.

“You don’t seem to understand the weight of the situation.”

“Whatever you say.” Keith says, then opens up the door. Lance squeaks, earning a look from Keith, but follows him in. 

Shiro looks up from where he’s grading papers, eyes flitting over the two boys. He sets his pen down, leaning back in his seat and taking off his glasses. With a lazy wave, Shiro gestures for the two to sit at any desk. Keith stays standing against one while Lance hoists himself up, sitting atop the desk. 

“So…” He begins. Lance shifts awkwardly, while Keith just crosses his arms. “The two of you are friends with benefits?"

Lance looks at Keith, who briefly makes eye contact with him before looking back at Shiro.

“Yeah. It’s not a big deal, Shiro.” He says. Lance bites his lip, looking at Shiro, who glances between the two of them.

“I understand, but as your brother and friend, it’s my responsibility to make sure that the two of you are being safe. I trust that the both of you are…making the right choices, but a reminder doesn’t hurt.” Shiro replies. Lance feels his face darken red, and he wants nothing more than to curl up into a ball and die of embarrassment.

“Christ.” Keith mumbles, looking up at the ceiling. Lance wants to laugh, but Shiro’s gaze falls to him, eyes slightly narrowed. 

“STDs aren't a joke.” He says seriously. Lance buries his face in his hands, groaning.

“Oh god, is this what hell is?” He mumbles into his palms. He doesn't have to look up to know that Keith is rolling his eyes, arms still crossed firmly over his chest.

“We’re both clean, and we use condoms anyway, Shiro. Calm down.” He says, and Lance isn't fully sure how he can say that out loud without physically dying, but he's not going to question it as long as  _ he _ doesn't have to be the one saying it. 

“What about dental dams?” Shiro asks without missing a beat. 

“We─what the fuck do you think we're  _ doing?”  _ Keith sputters.

“I don't know and I don't  _ want _ to know. I'm just saying, you should be prepared─”

“Oh my  _ god,”  _ Lance screeches, throwing his hands up. “We use condoms and lube and if someone wants to get rimmed you'll be the  _ first  _ person we ask for dental dams, alright?!” He says, spitting it all out in one breath and desperately trying to ignore the blush burning hot on his cheeks.

Shiro looks at him for a long, silent moment, and just as Lance decides that, okay, he's going to die here, this is how it ends─he speaks up.

“Good,” Shiro says with finality. “Now get out of my office.” 

 

✦

 

In the week following Lance realizing his feelings for Keith, things start to fall apart.

It starts with him... _ noticing _ things more. His gaze lingers on Keith during class, he zones out staring at the nape of his neck where his hair is pulled up and thinks about leaving a hickey there. He focuses  _ way _ too much on how Keith’s nose wrinkles when he laughs, how the corners of his eyes lift and his gums show in his smile─the  _ real _ one, not the one where he keeps his lips down over his teeth. His fingers twitch with the desire to take Keith’s hand when they walk down to the café, his daydreams about Keith shifting from R-rated topics to just thinking about...being with him.

He thinks about what it would be like to get to kiss Keith whenever he wants, not just when sex is involved. Thinks about not having to worry about people finding out about them, about Hunk and Pidge making fun of them for PDA without batting an eye. Thinks about wrapping his arms around his waist and peppering kisses on the places he knows his neck is sensitive, thinks about Keith laughing at how it tickles and pushing him away. He thinks about introducing Keith as his datefriend. He thinks about waking up with Keith in his bed and kissing him slow and soft in the morning light.

But he can’t.

So he settles for being selfish. 

Lance relishes in the way that Keith kisses him, taking what he can get. He brings his hand up to cup Keith’s cheek, thumb gently rubbing against his cheekbone as their kissing goes from a mildly frantic tempo to something slower, more focused.

They’re lounging in Keith’s dorm, Lance twisted in his spot sitting next to Keith to slot their lips together. Keith has his arms looped around Lance’s neck, while Lance has one hand on Keith’s shoulder, the other still cradling his face. The kiss has turned lazy in a sense; a rarity since their arrangement began. It’s not often that these types of kisses are exchanged, mostly sluggish versions of this after coming down from a climax, or just general checking up on one another after the fact.

Then Keith is pulling away, eyebrows furrowed slightly and lips twisted into a frown. Lance’s chest fills with fear for a sudden, horrible second, like Keith somehow  _ knows,  _ like he’s found out about his feelings and is about to tell him to get out of his life forever, but then his mouth is opening and he’s saying: “Are you okay?”

Lance blinks once, twice. Barely resists pinching himself.

“What?” He says dumbly, one hand still cupping Keith’s cheek.

“You were really off today, and you’re just─” He lets out a quiet huff. “Don’t call me weird for this, but you...seemed sad. During the kiss.”

“My  _ kissing _ was sad.” Lance echoes, hand falling from Keith’s cheek to his shoulder, mirroring his other hand. Keith winces, like he’s uncomfortable with his own wording, and sighs.

“I know it sounds weird, it just─you seemed upset already, so.” He mumbles, then unwinds his arms from Lance’s neck and takes Lance’s hands in his, letting them fall, joined, to his lap. “Are you okay?” 

Lance forces a smile onto his face, even as his mind is screaming at him to not get used to this, to not hope for Keith to be soft like this and hold his hands so gently if he ever finds out how Lance really feels. 

“It’s nothing, man. Don’t worry about me.” He says, hoping the smile pasted onto his expression is enough to get Keith to believe him.

“So there  _ is _ something wrong,” Keith says, evidently electing to ignore the rest of what Lance had said. His eyebrows pull together when Lance makes a face, and he squeezes Lance’s hands in what might be meant as a comforting gesture but really just feels like another blow to the gut. “Lance. C’mon, talk to me.” 

Lance sighs, squeezing his eyes shut. “Keith…”

“You don’t have to,” Keith says. “I’m not gonna make you. But I know talking about it helps sometimes.” 

Lance opens his eyes and looks up at the ceiling, staring at the little glow in the dark stars he, Keith and Hunk had stuck up there, chatting aimlessly while Pidge had complained about not being allowed to help them them because she’s  _ ‘too short to help you lanky assholes’. _

The irony of the situation is that Keith is the thing bothering him─the realization that their intimate moments, the kissing, the sex, the cuddles,  _ everything _ ...is all just as friends. Lance knows that it was their rule, their agreement to stay friends and not let the sex come between them.

He really wasnt counting on feelings coming in and shredding it all into pieces.

“Um. There’s this...person I like.” he starts, hesitant and a little disbelieving that he’s even  _ entertaining _ the idea of telling Keith about this. “Like,  _ really _ like. And they don’t feel the same way about me, so I’ve been kinda…” He makes a face, hoping that Keith gets what he’s trying to say. 

“You know they don’t?” Keith asks, expression open and unaware. Lance laughs, a bit bitterly.

“I’m pretty sure.” He says, looking down at their hands, Keith’s calloused fingers gently knit through his. “Not in that way, at least.”

“How come?” Keith asks, gently rubbing his thumb over Lance’s knuckles. His heart clenches at the sensation, drawing another pitiful, forced laugh out of him.

“I just do. It’s not hard to tell.” Lance replies. Keith frowns, then uncurls his hand from Lance’s to pull him into a tight hug, arms wrapped around his neck. Lance lets his hands fall to circle around Keith’s waist, holding onto him.

“They don’t know what they’re missing,” Keith says, almost against the skin of his neck, and Lance shivers.

_ No,  _ he thinks, feeling disgustingly selfish as he tightens his arms around Keith.  _ I think he knows exactly what he’s missing.  _

 

✦

 

Getting a random text from Shiro asking to meet for coffee would have been less nerve-wracking a week ago.

However, since Shiro accidentally stumbled upon Lance and Keith, half-naked and covered with evidence of sex, Lance knows exactly what Shiro wants. And, despite every nerve in Lance’s body telling him that it’s not too late to spontaneously become a mountain person, he just replied with a thumbs up, then tossed his phone across the room.

_ It’s not too late _ , his brain reminds him as he opens the door to the cafe. Lance ignores the thought, instead standing in line to get a drink. He’s here about ten minutes earlier than the time he and Shiro agreed on, and based from a quick look around of the place, he has yet to arrive.

Lance soon orders, stepping aside to wait for his drink. The door chimes, a barista shouts a welcome, and Lance jerks his head up to see Shiro entering. He spots Lance and offers a smile, one that Lance is quick to return.

Lance’s name gets called, and he goes up to collect his drink, hovering around the counter while Shiro grabs his and offering the older man a nervous smile as they start to walk to an open booth in the back.

“So, uh…” Lance starts as he sits down, Shiro sliding into the booth across from him. “What’s up?” Shiro raises an eyebrow at him. 

“You're a smart guy, Lance.” He says. “I think you have an idea of what I want to talk about.” Dread drops like a weight in Lance’s stomach, and he slumps in his seat slightly.

“Ha, yeah…” He manages, laughing weakly. “I was kinda hoping I’d be wrong, though.” 

“Believe me, the last thing I want to do is talk about my sibling’s sex life.” Shiro says. “But you have siblings, so I imagine you’ve given someone the shovel talk before.”

“Yeah,” Lance snorts. “Because thirteen year old Lance who had just hit puberty was  _ so _ intimidating, threatening his older sister’s boyfriend.”

Much to Lance’s surprise, Shiro laughs, a genuine laugh that sort of catches him off guard, considering the conversation they’re about to have.

Eventually, Shiro’s laughter dies down, looking down at the table. A silence settles over them, tip toeing the line between comfortable and awkward.

“I just…I worry about him.” Shiro finally sighs, hands still curled around his coffee mug. “He’s never had a serious boyfriend, and I know he’s never had sex before you. This isn’t exactly familiar territory for him.”

Lance nods. “We set up rules for our, uh, deal.” He says, wondering vaguely how he hasn’t died from mortification yet. “Five of them.”

“Mhm,” Shiro responds, taking a sip of his coffee. “And how many have you broken?”

Despite himself, Lance snorts. “Three now.”

“What were the rules?” Shiro asks. Lance shrugs, starting to drink his coffee now that it seems sufficiently cooled down.

“Mostly just stuff to keep it secret. Which, uh, obviously didn't work. The other two were to not have sex with anyone else, and to not fall in love with each other.” Lance admits. The corners of Shiro’s mouth twitch down, so Lance quickly adds, “That last one was a joke, I swear.”

“How's  _ that _ one going for you?” Shiro asks, eyebrows raised. Lance bites his lip, feeling his face warm slightly.

“Is it that obvious?” He asks weakly. Shiro stares at him, then slowly nods.

“Are you going to tell him, then?” Shiro asks. Lance raises his eyebrows at him, offering a forced smile.

“You’re kidding, right? I’d rather stop this whole thing altogether than  _ ever _ tell him.” Lance says.

Shiro shrugs, lifting his cup to take a sip of his drink. He sets it down, absentmindedly twisting his wedding band.

“Sounds good to me.” He mutters. Lance stays quiet, tugging the sleeve of his hoodie over one hand.

Finally, he says, “You really don’t like this, do you.”

It comes out as a statement more than a question, but Shiro nods all the same.

“If the two of you were in a relationship, I’d be more okay with it. Friends with benefits is…”

“Weird?” Lance offers.

“Messy.” Shiro deadpans. “But no matter how much I try, and no matter how much I want to, it’s Keith’s decision. I trust it’s a consensual one for both you and him.”

Lance smiles, a more genuine one. “Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro just quietly lifts his cup, taking a long sip of his drink. He sets it back down, looking outside the window.

Lance’s fingers drum against the table, the silence tense─and, if he’s being honest, a little irritating. A week ago, they would have been able to keep up an easy conversation, talking about everything from school, to the time that fourteen year old Keith tried to make breakfast for Adam and Shiro on Father’s day, almost burning down the kitchen in the process.

“I’m not trying to take advantage of the situation.” Lance blurts, making Shiro turn to look at him. “I, like,  _ just _ realized that I like him. I promise you, I never meant to make it seem like I could be taking advantage of Keith.”

Shiro stays silent for a few more moments, then allows a small smile to spread across his features.

“I know, Lance.” He says gently. “I don't think you're that kind of person.”

Lance tentatively returns the small smile. Shiro shrugs, checking his watch and moving to stand up from his seat, coffee still in hand.

“Plus, I have a feeling that if you told Keith how you feel, he wouldn’t see it that way either.”

“What? What does that me—Shiro! Don't leave yet, that doesn’t make sense! What does that mean?” Lance says, watching Shiro walk away. “Don’t leave! Dude!”

The bell jingles, barely covering Shiro’s laughter as he exits the shop. Lance groans, picking up his coffee and rushing out after him, conversation pushed to the back of his mind.

 

✦

 

You’d think that having a friend with benefits would mean not having to jack off.

To be clear─Lance does. Lance thinks that.

Or, well,  _ thought _ that. Because here he is, heat pooled in his stomach, knowing that Keith is in class for the next hour. 

“Ughhh,” he groans, his head knocking back against the headboard. His dick twitches traitorously in his pants, apparently not getting the memo that there is  _ no way _ he’s doing this. He curls his hands into fists in the sheets, eyes squeezed shut as if that could prevent the way his cock is slowly filling out, straining uncomfortably against the zipper of his jeans.

He sits there, staring at the ceiling, for what feels like hours but is more likely minutes, before he gives in. He unzips his jeans, almost whimpering at how the pressure releases and audibly letting out a sigh when he tugs his underwear down, tucking the band under his shaft. 

“Fffuck…” Lance breathes out as he finally,  _ finally  _ curls a hand around himself, hips helplessly thrusting up into his fist. He bites his lip, letting his head fall from where it’d been tipped back as he works himself over quickly and messily, muffled moans slipping out from between his teeth. “Nnh, Keith─"

“Wow.” A deeply, unsettlingly familiar voice says from the doorway, and Lance jolts, eyes wide as he tugs his blanket over himself and looks up to see Keith standing there, brows raised. “That’s an ego boost.”

“Keith!” He shrieks, face burning. “What─what are you doing here?”

“My class got cancelled.” Keith says, closing the door behind him and turning the lock. “Thought I’d surprise you.” 

“W-well don't!” Lance says, still clutching the blankets around his hips. His dick has apparently  _ not  _ gotten the message to calm down, only flagged slightly and now throbbing insistently at the lack of attention. 

Keith just hums thoughtfully, and, because he evidently wants to give Lance a heart attack, walks forward. Lance’s eyes go wide, and he scrambles back until his back hits the headboard, fists clenched tightly in the blanket. Keith settles down at the foot of the bed, unnaturally calm and holding eye contact with Lance like this is a completely normal situation. 

“You gonna finish?” He asks as if he’s asking about the weather and not… _ this.  _

“What?” Lance says, head going a little dizzy. 

“You’re still hard,” Keith says matter-of-factly. “You should take care of that.” He pauses, eyes trailing over Lance’s still-shocked expression and the dark blush probably still pooled over his cheeks. “If you want to, that is.” 

Lance remains frozen in shock, jaw hanging open. He knows he should answer, judging by Keith’s slowly wavering confidence, but his mind is stuck on the question  _ what the fuck did I do?  _ Because damn, what happened to the Keith who was blushing bright red at the  _ mention _ of sex, or the Keith who was trembling and gasping with just Lance’s hand on his dick?

“Jesus christ,” He breathes out, “I turned you into a fucking  _ sex demon _ .”

Keith laughs, sudden and surprised, his cheeks coloring slightly. The mirth in his expression makes warmth rise in Lance’s chest, the corners of his mouth twitching up.

Keith’s laughter dies down, and he adjusts himself to lean forward and gently kiss Lance, his hand grabbing Lance’s chin to tilt his face up for their lips to meet. He pulls back after a moment that feels all too short, biting at Lance’s bottom lip even as he does.

“Keith,” he says breathily, his name pulled from Lance’s mouth almost involuntarily. Keith laughs, quiet and low in his throat and unfairly hot, reminding Lance of the situation that is his ever-present hardon.

“What?” Keith replies easily, feigning innocence. Lance lets out a frustrated sigh, glaring at him.

“Touch me,” he begs, hips bucking up and hands twisted in the sheets, blanket discarded somewhere in between Keith kissing him and now. Keith hums, looking thoughtful for a moment, then pulls away from Lance completely, leaning back on his hands.

“Nah, not yet.” He decides. “Why don't you get back to what you were doing?” 

Lance’s cheeks burn, but he's not one to be outdone when it comes to cockiness, and the smirk playing at Keith’s lips is doing... _ certain things  _ to him. 

He pushes down his embarrassment and reaches for his cock, finally curling his hand back around it and pumping slowly. He starts light, hesitant, not quite up to the pace he’d been at when Keith walked in, and Keith’s eyes follow the motion, dark and wanting. He licks his lips when Lance swipes his thumb over the head, and it pulls a frankly pathetic moan from Lance’s throat. 

He’s panting now, tightening his grip around his dick, his head falling back against the headboard when he squeezes at the base. He can feel Keith shifting at the end of the bed, adjusting himself to move closer to Lance. Heat is bursting low in his stomach like fireworks, spurred on how Keith keeps moving further into his personal space, hand splayed on Lance’s thigh and feeling how the muscles twitch and tense as the beginnings of orgasm edge in.

“You’re close,” he murmurs, breath hot on Lance’s neck. His hand inches up Lance’s thigh, tauntingly close to the base of his dick, and Lance whimpers. He nods wordlessly, mouth open and gasping as he fists his cock, hand pumping up and down faster and faster the closer he gets. He feels Keith’s smirk against his skin, and then Keith’s pressing gentle kisses up and down the column of Lance’s neck, pausing every now and then to suck and bite at the places he knows from experience are sensitive.

Lance groans again, tilting his head to give Keith better access. He feels the heat in his stomach knot into itself, his balls pulling up tight, then Keith’s biting down  _ hard _ at the crook of his neck and a sound he refuses to acknowledge pulls itself from Lance’s throat. His vision practically whites out when he comes, but he feels it, spilling hot over his hands and against his chest.

He barely has time to fall into post-orgasm clarity before Keith is getting up off of the bed, grabbing a few tissues before helping Lance clean off before tossing them away. Lance pulls his boxers back up, relaxing back into the bed as Keith climbs back into it alongside him, kicking his shoes off and sprawling out next to Lance.

“So…” Keith begins. “Sex demon?”

Lance sighs, rolling his eyes at him. “You can’t even deny it. I totally created a monster.”

Keith snorts. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious!” Lance insists. “I’m surprised you haven’t gotten down and dirty with half of the people on campus since getting to experience the wonders of Lancey Lance.”

Keith laughs this time, swatting at Lance’s arm. 

“Like I’d ever do shit with anyone other than you.” He scoffs, rolling his eyes. He says it casually, matter-of-fact, like he doesn’t think his words will knock the air from Lance’s lungs the way they do.

“Right,” Lance manages, pushing down the breathless feeling clutching at his chest and watching Keith readjust himself on the bed, oblivious to his inner turmoil. “No way.”


	4. rule number four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’d you just say?” He asks, brows furrowing. Rolo looks back at him lazily, taking a slow drag from the joint.
> 
> “I said Keith seemed pretty pissed about you and Allura. He have a crush on her or something?” He asks, blowing smoke out his nostrils, and Lance’s blood goes cold.
> 
> “What?” He says shakily.
> 
> “I mentioned I saw you and Allura run off to go fuck or somethin’ at that party,” Rolo says matter-of-factly. “Bro just stormed off.” He takes another long drag of the joint, eyes lidded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS VERY LATE! me and erica are both in school rn so we've been pretty held up. hope y'all enjoy though
> 
> tw for drug usage at the end of the chapter

“I feel like I keep asking you this,” Keith starts, putting his book down. “But are you okay?”

Lance looks away from where he’s scrolling aimlessly through his phone, eyes darting down to where Keith’s head is resting on his lap. He smiles, shutting his phone off and setting it aside. The two are relaxing on Keith’s bed, Lance leaning against the wall while Keith casually rests against him, Lance’s hand occasionally playing with the hair that’s splayed across his lap.

“I’m fine. Just today getting me down, that’s all.”

Keith frowns, tilting his head slightly. “What's today?”

Lance stares at him, brows raised. “Valentine’s day? Day of love and accidentally making more Scorpios, all that shit.”

“Oh,” Keith says, blinking. “I totally forgot about that.” He frowns. “Also, what's wrong with Scorpios?” 

“Says the Scorpio,” Lance retorts. Keith rolls his eyes, sitting up and turning to face him.

“Very funny. But seriously, what’s going on?” He asks again. Lance groans, letting his head fall back against the wall.

“I just...it's bringing attention to the fact that I'm not good enough, y’know?” He sighs. “Like…for a relationship.”

“Wait, what?” Keith says, surprised.  _ “You?” _

“Yeah, duh. I irritate people and get on their nerves a  _ lot,  _ most people just look at me and see some arrogant goofball─”

“You’re wrong,” Keith blurts out, grabbing Lance’s hands and cutting him off. “God─you’re  _ so _ wrong, Lance.” He pauses, frowning. “I know our whole…deal started because we were talking about how people look at me, but I wish you’d realize how everyone looks at  _ you.” _

Lance’s mouth falls open, staring at Keith as he takes a deep breath, shifting nervously before looking Lance right in the eye.

“They look at you like you’re the sun, Lance. You’re too bright and yet everyone wants to know more about you, so they keep looking. They do everything they can to learn about you.” 

Keith laughs quietly, looking down and squeezing Lance’s hands.

“You're just so  _ good,  _ Lance.”

Lance remains quiet, an obvious flush starting to rise up on his face. He closes his mouth and swallows past the dryness in his throat, stuck at a loss for words.

The moment is peaceful, quiet and fragile, but Keith suddenly lifts his head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion to ask, “Are you seriously getting hard right now?”

Lance squeaks, then pulls his hands back to cover his face. Keith sounds like he’s trying not to laugh, and Lance groans in embarrassment. He drags his hands down his face, pouting at Keith, who’s trying and failing to hide a smirk behind a hand.

“It’s not my fault!” Lance defends, avoiding eye contact. “You were just─saying all that and I... _ might _ have a praise kink.” He hears Keith’s quiet snickers stop, pitching the room back into silence.

Keith’s hand falls from his mouth, instead reaching up to cup Lance’s chin and tilt it up to hold eye contact with him, his own face slightly flushed and grinning widely.

“Well,” He murmurs, shifting himself forward so he’s on Lance’s thighs, hands trailing down his clothed chest and feeling the hitch in Lance’s breathing. “Guess I should make the most of that, then.”

 

✦

 

“Hey, since Shiro knows now, you can tell Hunk if you want,” Keith had suggested once Lance had reached the door. “I mean─it’s not  _ too _ noticeable but uh…you’re limping a bit.”

Lance had just gaped at him, making Keith laugh that ridiculously, unfairly adorable laugh, gesturing for Lance to get out. Lance had rolled his eyes and flipped him off, then opened the door to the dorm hallway, exiting Keith’s room.

Despite Lance’s best efforts to make sure that he is not limping (because he  _ isn’t _ , thank you very much), Hunk picks up on it anyways.

“Dude, how’d you hurt your leg?” Hunk asks, looking up from his laptop. Lance groans, mentally reminding himself not to tell Keith that Hunk did indeed notice, and instead flops onto his bed.

“Uhhh...stairs.” He replies stiltedly, toeing his shoes off and letting them fall to the floor at the foot of the bed.

“Right. So the stairs gave you that hickey, too?” Hunk quips. Lance’s hand instinctively goes to his neck, almost feeling the phantom of Keith sucking and biting at one particular spot that had made him arch into Keith’s touch.

Lance doesn’t respond, instead deciding to take off his jeans, kicking them off and letting them fall somewhere, lounging in his boxers and wanting nothing more than to go to sleep.

(The only reason he’s not still at Keith’s dorm is because Shiro had informed him that he wanted to take Keith to a diner for breakfast─something he had told Keith multiple times, giving Lance very pointed looks with every reminder.)

“Mhm,” Lance says. letting his eyes fall shut.

“Lance,” Hunk deadpans. “C’mon, talk to me.”

“Jesus─fine, you wanna know the truth?” Lance says, sitting up. “Keith and I are fucking.”

Hunk goes silent, making Lance tilt his head. Then, a grin slowly starts spreading across Hunk’s face, and he suddenly erupts into laughter.

“What the fuck.” Lance deadpans, voice drowned out by Hunk’s louder cackling. Lance continues to watch as Hunk doubles over, clutching at his laptop to make sure it doesn’t slide off his lap as his body shakes with laughter.

“Oh man, that has got to be one of the funniest things you’ve said all semester.” Hunk says, wiping away tears. “No─all year. You really expected me to believe that the two of you are having sex? With each  _ other _ ?”

Lance blinks. He blinks again, frowning at Hunk, who’s still chuckling lightly.

“C’mon, why aren’t you laughing─that was hilarious! Right?” He asks. Lance slaps a hand against his forehead, dragging it down his face with a quiet groan.

“Lance? You’re…still not laughing. That─that was a joke, right? You’re not actually having sex with  _ Keith, _ right?”

Lance tilts his head up, staring at the popcorn textured ceiling. A few quiet moments pass, then Lance hears Hunk inhale sharply.

“No,” He gasps. “So then─when you were  _ ‘studying at Keith’s’─” _

“Yeah,” Lance says, face flushed pink.

“And that time you slept over at his dorm─”

_ “Yes, _ Hunk.”

“Oh my god,” Hunk croaks. “I can never look him in the eye again.”

Lance snorts, falling back against his pillows. “Yeah, imagine how  _ I  _ feel.”

“This is exactly like a plotline from one of my soaps.” Hunk rambles, looking way too excited.

“My life is not a soap opera, Hunk.” Lance mumbles, eyes fluttering shut. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“Wait, how did you manage to convince your crush to have sex with you?”

“It’s a long─wait, my  _ what _ ?” Lance shrieks, sitting back up, eyes shooting open. “How did you─I never even told you about that!” He says, staring wide-eyed at Hunk.

“You─Lance, please tell me you didn’t _ just  _ realize that. You’ve been crushing on him since like, freshman year! I saw it with my own two eyes!”

_ “Freshman year?” _ Lance yelps. “I just figured it out like—two weeks ago!”

“ _ Two weeks ago? _ ” Hunk repeats, bewilderment clouding his features. “How long have you two been—y’know…”

“A little over a month ago? Probably closer to two months, if I’m being honest.”

Hunk gapes at him, then picks up a pillow and throws it at him.

“You need to stop!” He exclaims, uncaring as the pillow whacks Lance in the face. Lance yelps, grabbing it and clutching it protectively to his chest.

“Dude,  _ what?”  _ He screeches, eyes wide.

“Bro, this is the worst idea you've ever had!” Hunk yells, bombarding him with any and all other pillows within reach. Lance yelps, ducking and holding his blanket in front of him as a shield.

“What! How?” He retorts, glaring at Hunk over the edge of his blanket.

Hunk throws another pillow at him, nailing Lance in the head again. “You’re fuckbuddies with your crush! Fuckbuddies means  _ no feelings attatched! _ ”

“I know that!” Lance says defensively, throwing a pillow back at Hunk. It nails him in the chest, but Hunk barely notices as he continues ranting.

“That’s why you gotta stop! You’re supposed to be thinking about his dick, not swooning over how pretty his eyes are in the moonlight!”

Frustrated (and unfortunately realizing that Hunk is right), Lance grabs the pillow next to him and immediately shoves his face into it, screaming as loud as he can.

A few moments later, Lance peels his face away from his pillow. Hunk is giving him a sympathetic look, watching him carefully.

“I have a problem.” Lance croaks. Hunk nods sagely.

“You have a problem.” He agrees.

 

✦

 

“Lance, you big baby.”

Lance lifts his head from where he’d been collapsed on the table to see Romelle frowning at him, Allura and Hunk giving him respectively concerned and judgemental looks.

“Whaaat,” he whines, sticking his lower lip out in a pout. “You guys dragged me out here, you didn’t say anything about me having to  _ enjoy _ myself.” 

“It’s a party!” Allura exclaims. “You love parties!”

“Yeah!” Romelle agrees emphatically. “What’s with the moping?” She asks, eyebrows furrowed. Lance sighs, propping his chin up on the table surface.

“Sorry guys,” he mumbles. “I’m just not really feelin’ it tonight.”

The three exchange worried looks between them, before Hunk turns to Lance to gently pat him on the shoulder.

“I’m gonna go get you a drink, okay buddy?” Lance nods sadly, letting his head flop back down onto the table. Hunk gets up, disappearing into the crowd of people laughing and talking over the music. 

Lance just shoves his face into the table while he waits, only looking up when he hears the soft  _ thunk _ of the cup being set down on the table, along with the slight shift of Hunk settling back down across from him. At some point, Romelle must have left to go dance or something, because only Allura and Hunk remain at the table.

Miserably, he takes a swig from the cup, wincing slightly at the burn. He wrinkles his nose as it goes down, grimacing, and tries not to pay attention to the worried looks his friends are very pointedly giving him.

“Relax,” Lance says, waving a hand dismissively. “Once I get a few drinks into my system I’m sure Party Lance will finally come out.”

Hunk and Allura exchange doubtful looks, to which Lance lifts the cup and takes a much longer swig, swallowing harshly with the burn and setting the cup down again.

By the time Lance has finished his first drink and begun nursing a second, Party Lance refuses to make any entrance of sorts.

 

Instead, Sad Lance has emerged, and Allura has taken notice.

 

She suddenly stands up from the table, standing beside Lance and grabbing his arm, pulling him up with her. He just goes with it, stumbling slightly at first but regaining his balance as Allura tugs him into a hallway, leading him to a room. She opens the door and gently pushes him into it, entering after and closing it behind her.

“Okay,” Allura says, locking the door to the room. “What is going on with you? I haven’t seen you this upset in ages.”

Lance sighs, sitting down on the bed. Allura moves away from the door, going to sit next to him. The bed bounces a bit as she sits, situating herself to face him.

“Almost two months ago, Keith and I set up an…arrangement. We uh, we agreed to be friends with benefits.”

Allura sighs, face contorting into one of displeasure.

“Oh, I’m afraid I can see where this is going.”

Lance grimaces, looking down at his hands. “Yeah. Hunk yelled at me a lot when I told him last week. He told me to end it but…”

“You can’t.” Allura finishes. Lance nods, making Allura sigh once more and pull him towards her, wrapping him in a hug. He holds her the best he can, winding his arms around her middle carefully.

“I’m here for you, okay babe?”

Lance smiles into her shoulder, a small one, but a smile nonetheless.

“I know.” He says, arms squeezing tighter. “Thanks, Allura.”

 

✦

 

After the week he’s been having, Lance feels like he deserves a good smoke session.

Normally, Lance tries not to, especially considering his and Keith’s setup, but sometimes, he just needs to calm down instead of getting worked up. So, he texts Rolo, offering to meet him somewhere off-campus. Rolo responds pretty quickly, stoner that he is, and they set up a time and place.

Lance heads over not too long after, throwing on his comfiest hoodie on his way out the door (which, if it's Keith’s and he stole it, is entirely his own business). Rolo seems like he's been waiting a while by the time Lance shows up, but by the pinkish tint to his eyes and the embers glowing at the end of the joint, Lance would venture to say that he doesn't care all that much. 

Wordlessly, Rolo offers Lance the joint. He grabs it from the other boy’s spindly fingers, taking a long drag and letting the smoke pool in his mouth before exhaling deeply, eyes fluttering shut. A familiarly hazy feeling starts to wash over him, and he welcomes it with open arms. 

Lance lets himself zone out, tuning out the sound of Rolo babbling away. It’s become white noise to him, with how often he and Rolo smoke together; Rolo tends to start rambling incoherently once he gets high enough. Normally, Lance would humor him, but he’s too tired today to make any sense of whatever he’s saying.

That is, until he catches Keith’s name in the midst of it.

He shakes himself out of the relaxed haze he’d let himself fall into, turning to Rolo with wide eyes.

“What’d you just say?” He asks, brows furrowing. Rolo looks back at him lazily, taking a slow drag from the joint.

“I said Keith seemed pretty pissed about you and Allura. He have a crush on her or something?” He asks, blowing smoke out his nostrils, and Lance’s blood goes cold. 

“What?” He says shakily. 

“I mentioned I saw you and Allura run off to go fuck or somethin’ at that party,” Rolo says matter-of-factly. “Bro just stormed off.” He takes another long drag of the joint, eyes lidded.

“Fuck,” Lance breathes, knotting his fingers into his hair. “Fuck,  _ Rolo!  _ Why would you tell him that?”

“Huh?” Rolo says blankly.

“I didn’t hook up with Allura!” Lance says, feeling slightly hysterical. Rolo blinks back at him slowly, eyes so bloodshot even the whites seem pink.

“Oh,” he says. “Alright.” 

“No! Not alright!” He says, voice pitching louder. Rolo blinks again, processing, then silently offers him the joint. “I don’t want a fucking hit, Rolo!”

Rolo shrugs and takes another drag, seemingly ignoring the fact that Lance is panicking beside him.

“Bro,” Rolo begins, and for a split second, Lance thinks he might offer some words of wisdom, but instead he continues: “How do you throw a garbage can out?”

The part of Lance that still isn't entirely sober stops and starts to drift, and he distantly starts wondering  _ how  _ do _ you throw a garbage can out _ but Lance is quick to snap out of it, and takes off running, yelling out some approximation of a goodbye to Rolo.

He’s painfully relieved that Keith’s dorm isn’t too far from the spot he and Rolo usually smoke together. He can’t run fast enough on his way there, already mentally crafting a frantic explanation.

 

When he gets there, he yells pretty loudly to whoever’s entering the building to keep the door open for him. They oblige, startled at Lance’s speed and volume, and he sprints past them, quickly scaling the stairs up to his floor. He’s kind of sweating by the time he reaches Keith’s door, finally stopping to catch his breath and bang loudly on it.

He’s probably annoying Keith’s neighbors, judging how a few poke their heads out to tiredly glare at him, only to duck back into their own rooms. Lance ignores them, instead focusing on knocking again, a little harsher.

“Keith?” He tries, voice borderline frantic. “I really need to talk to you dude, so could you open the door? I think everyone on this floor is starting to sharpen their pitchforks.”

Lance deflates at the lack of a response, running a hand through his hair and tugging at it, frustration coursing through his veins. He curses under his breath, then moves his hand away from his hair to knock one more time, but is interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

“Keith’s not here.” They say, and Lance is pretty sure its the same snotty RA that Keith has complained about before (and also punched in freshman year). Once the words finally sink in, his blood runs cold, and he groans, letting his head hit Keith’s door.

“Also, I’m pretty sure you don’t live in this building, so I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” He adds, and  _ wow _ , Lance kind of understands why Keith punched him now.

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave. Just, uh, let Keith know I was here, okay?” Lance asks, pushing himself away from the door, shoving his hands in his pockets. The man shrugs as Lance walks past him, though he’s pretty sure he can hear him mumble something under his breath. Lance just ignores him, instead heading for the elevator to go back down, unwilling to take the stairs again.

 

The trek from Keith’s dorm back to his own feels longer than usual. Lance’s body feels semi-sluggish, worn out from sprinting up a few flights of stairs, and wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed with Hunk while watching Chopped and eating shitty, off-brand cereal.

Lance doesn’t exactly get that when he finally gets back. Hunk isn’t there, most likely in class, which makes Lance groan again, before flopping onto his bed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance notices that his laptop, has a folded piece of paper on top of it. Lance frowns, getting up and grabbing the paper off of his desk. He flips it open, and his breath hitches as he recognizes Keith’s familiar scrawl.

_ crossed off rule 4. have fun with her. _

Lance’s heart pounds, feeling his legs wobble. He stumbles backwards back onto his bed, eyes reading and rereading the note. A panicked feeling starts to bubble in his chest as the words finally start to sink in.

“Fuck.” He breathes out, clutching the note in his hands.

Fuck, indeed.


	5. rule number five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding Keith when he doesn’t want to be found has never been easy.
> 
> Usually, it isn’t that bad─he’ll isolate if he’s in a bad space, but he’ll either come back around on his own or Shiro will forcibly drag him out of his dorm and get him to take care of himself for once. The issue now is that he’s still going to class, still talking to people and getting meals.
> 
> He just isn’t talking to Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all: hey guys, why is this chapter a month late?  
> me, sweating: not because i was binge reading naruto. thats not why
> 
> but seriously, sorry for the wait on this one. it was weirdly hard to finish and as proud as we are of the fic this chapter was a fucking terror to write. hope y'all enjoy, comment and rb if you can!

Finding Keith when he doesn’t want to be found has never been easy.

Usually, it isn’t that bad─he’ll isolate if he’s in a bad space, but he’ll either come back around on his own or Shiro will forcibly drag him out of his dorm and get him to take care of himself for once. The issue _now_ is that he’s still going to class, still talking to people and getting meals.

He just isn’t talking to _Lance._

Keith starts sitting in a different seat during astro, completely across the room from Lance, and walks in practically the same moment the bell rings so that Lance has no time to say anything to him. He darts off two seconds after class ends, doesn't answer Lance’s texts, doesn't even answer the door when one of his dormmates lets Lance into the building.

And at first Lance was alright with it; with letting Keith take the space he needed and figure out what freaked him out so much once it got out of his system. But as more of the week passes by, and Keith shows no signs of his mood improving, Lance starts to worry a little.

Okay, a lot.

 

“Lance,” Allura says, frowning as he restlessly paces his dorm. “What is this about?” She’s sitting on Hunk’s bed alongside Pidge and Romelle, Shiro and Hunk standing to the side and looking much like they wanted to ask the same question.

“Okay, uh…” He starts, hesitant, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Everyone knows but Pidge and Romelle at this point, so whatever.” He breathes in, steeling himself. “Um, Keith and I have kinda been hooking up.” He admits.

“Yeah, I know.” Pidge says boredly. “Hunk told me. That was a mistake, by the way, you know he can’t keep a secret to save his life.” Lance spares a scandalized look for Hunk, who averts his eyes quickly, at least having the shame to look guilty.

“Were we not supposed to know about that?” Romelle asks curiously, looking at Pidge.

“Not helpful!” Lance shrieks. “Kind of freaking out right now! Friends are supposed to support you when you're freaking out!”

“Okay, okay,” Shiro cuts in, ever the mediator. “Lance, you called crisis mode. What’s wrong?”

Lance pushes a hand back through his hair, sucking in a deep breath. He lets his hand fall, then exhales.

“Keith has been ignoring me because I think he thinks Allura and I, uh…hooked up at that party a few weeks ago.” Everyone collectively makes a face, and Lance laughs. “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction.”

“No ill will meant, Lance,” Allura says gently. “But what could have _possibly_ led him to believe that?”

“Ugh…” Lance groans, dragging a hand down his face. “Rolo saw us leave to to go talk and assumed we were going to go fuck, and he told Keith for some reason.”

He digs into his pocket, taking out the note Keith left in his dorm and handing it to Allura. She frowns as she takes it from his hand, face falling as she reads over it.

“Oh dear.” She says under her breath. “That’s not good.” Pidge peers at it over her shoulder, pushing her glasses up her nose.

“Yikes.” She mutters before looking up at Lance. The note gets passed to Romelle, who quickly hands it to Hunk. “Did you tell him that’s not what happened?”

“I’ve been _trying!”_ He exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air. “He won’t even talk to me. He’s ignoring me in class, ignoring my texts, _and_ won’t open his door for me!”

The group sends him pitying looks. Shiro finally glances down at the note that is now in his hands, frowning. Finally, he hands the note back to Lance, who takes it with a mumbled _‘thanks’._

“Y’know,” Shiro begins slowly. “It would be a shame if I left here to grade papers, but accidentally forgot the spare key to Keith’s dorm, and you just happened to find it and decided to go talk to him.”

The words hang in the air before Hunk brightens suddenly. “Oh! Yeah, that’d be terrible.”

Everyone else, seeming to finally catch on, starts to agree. Lance just grins, watching as Shiro nonchalantly takes his keys out. He drops them onto Lance’s desk, then glances at his watch, plastering a very obviously fake look of shock onto his face.

“Oh boy, what a shame, I have to go grade papers.” He says robotically, giving Lance a Significant Look that says _please slap some sense into my dumbass sibling._

“It’d suck if you forgot something!” Romelle exclaims, obviously way too excited about the bit that she seems to have caught on to.

“Okay, I think the bit’s officially over.” Pidge says, patting Romelle on the back consolingly. Romelle deflates slightly, but Lance flashes her a grin.

“Thanks, you guys.” He says. Allura squeezes Lance’s arm, a soft smile resting on her face.

“I hope you’re able to work things out.” She says. Lance smiles back while the rest of the group starts to filter out of Lance and Hunk’s dorm. Lance’s eyes flicker from Allura to the keys that rest on his desk.

“I hope so, too.”

 

✦

 

It’s a last-ditch effort to check Keith’s dorm again. Lance doesn't really expect to find him when he opens the door with Shiro’s spare key, but─Keith has a way of surprising him.

He turns quickly when the door opens, obviously startled, and his eyes widen at the sight of Lance, and Lance takes the moment of silence that settles to let his eyes drag over Keith's figure.

For lack of a nicer word, he looks like shit. His hair is tangled, purple bags staining his undereyes and clothes mussed. He seems about as much of a mess as Lance has felt the past two weeks.

“What are you doing here?” Keith says finally, voice hoarse. Lance frowns, stepping inside and pulling the door closed behind him.

“Haven’t been able to talk to you any other way,” he says, bitterness creeping into his tone. “You know, since you’ve been pretending I don’t exist.” Keith purses his lips, jaw clenching.

“I figured you didn’t need me around anymore.” He says, his voice cold. “You know, now that you got what you _actually_ wanted.”

“What I _actually_ want?” Lance echoes back, incredulous.

“Allura,” Keith bites out. “I’m happy for you, but I just wish you would have told me in person, and I wouldn’t have to find out through fucking _Rolo.”_

Frustration sparks up in Lance’s chest all over again, and he takes in a deep, slow breath, pressing his lips together thinly.

“I don't know what Rolo told you or why you _believed_ him, but nothing happened between me and Allura.” He says, careful to keep his voice even. “She noticed I was upset at the party, so she wanted to talk somewhere private.”

Keith blinks once, twice.

“Oh.” He says, the word coming out like he’d been punched in the stomach. Lance steamrolls forward, not giving Keith a moment to pause in his confusion.

“Even if I _did_ hook up with her, why would you even do all this?” He asks, running a hand through his hair. “We’ve broken half the fucking rules already, Keith. The rules don't _mean_ anything.” A flash of what might be hurt crosses Keith’s face, but his expression smooths back into something unreadable before Lance can fully see it.

“It doesn't matter.” He mumbles. “It was stupid, sorry.” Anger sparks back up in Lance’s chest, and his mouth twists into a frown, stepping further into Keith’s space.

“It obviously fucking _matters,_ Keith,” he snaps, patience quickly fraying. “You ignored me for over a week, don't try to tell me this is nothing.”

Keith breathes in slowly, eyes squeezed shut like he’s in pain and fists clenched tight.

“I really don’t want to talk about this.” He says, tone measured and tense. Lance scoffs.

“Seriously, Keith? You at least owe me that. An _explanation─”_

“You─you don't _get_ it, Lance!” He exclaims suddenly, cutting him off.

“What? What am I supposed to get?” Lance shoots back, irritation swelling in his chest. “God, you never _tell_ me anything! Maybe that's why I don't fucking _get it,_ Keith!”

Keith makes a garbled, frustrated noise, eyebrows furrowed tightly together. He fumbles for a second, like he’s not quite sure what to do, but then he’s walking briskly over to his desk and snatching something out of a drawer, laying it flat on the surface and making an angry, slashing line across it before turning back to face Lance. He stomps back over and shoves the paper against Lance’s chest, jaw clenched.

“I─that. That's why, okay?” He says, suddenly subdued. His eyes are watery, muscles slack in his shoulders and arms where they fall back to his sides, leaving the paper in Lance’s hands.

Lance holds it there for a moment, almost afraid to look but still curious. It replaces the fiery heat of anger in him, melts it down into something confused, something that draws up a pang of guilt for the unshed tears shining in Keith’s eyes.

Slowly, he brings the sheet of paper away from his chest, looking down at it.

  1. _No hickies where anyone can see them._
  2. _Nothing sexual in public._
  3. _Don't tell anyone we’re fucking._
  4. _Don’t hook up with anyone else._
  5. _Don't fall in love with me ;)_



 

The first four are marked with familiar slashes, Keith’s pencil and Lance’s annoyingly fluorescent gel pens alike marking up the page, but the last rule─the fifth─

It’s crossed out with an aggressive, shaky slash, indented where Keith’s pen dug into the paper.

 _“I just figured it's stupid to have it on the list if I'm not even following it,”_ Keith’s voice echoes in his head, and Lance’s breath catches.

“Keith,” he breathes, tearing his eyes away from the paper. Keith crosses his arms, turning his body away slightly as he meets Lance’s gaze. His eyes are still watery, face flushed pink.

“I understand if you want to leave and─and back out of this whole thing. But I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you or the situation.” He says, voice choked. “I thought it was just a crush, and I could get over it, but it just─kept getting harder to ignore, and─”

“I love you too.” Lance cuts him off. Keith stops short; his eyes blow wide and his mouth opens and closes once, twice, trying to find the words.

“What?” He says after a long moment, voice hoarse and disbelieving.

“I love you too,” Lance repeats, hands shaking. He laughs, face splitting into a smile. “Fuck, Keith, this whole time…I thought there was _no way─”_

“What─what about that person you like? The one who didn’t like you back?” Keith asks, voice small and shaky. Lance smiles at him softly, letting the stupid, _stupid_ fucking rules fall to the floor and stepping forward, tucking Keith’s hair behind his ear and cupping his cheek.

“Keith,” he says softly. “It’s _you._ It’s always been you.” 

Keith swallows, blinking big, watering eyes up at Lance, and Lance’s expression shifts into shock when tears start to roll down his cheeks.

“Hey, no, what's wrong?” He asks worriedly, quickly wiping the tears away as they fall. Keith lets out a garbled little laugh, lifting his hands to hold onto Lance’s where they cup his face.

“Nothing, I'm just,” he hiccups, a smile splitting tear-stained cheeks. “I'm just really happy.” Lance smiles back at him, cheeks flushing with heat.

“Me too,” he says softly, brushing his thumb over the curve of Keith cheekbone. He hesitates for a moment, then: “Is it okay if I kiss you?” He asks, hopeful. Keith’s hands fall to Lance’s waist, and he looks up at him, starry-eyed.

“More than okay,” he says, then, before Lance can do much of anything, he leans up and slots their lips together.

It's softer than the way they’d kissed before; free of urgency or hidden feelings. Lance’s mouth opens easily under Keith’s, tongue tracing the seam of his lips but keeping the kiss on the edge of chaste. Keith’s hands are warm on his waist, thumbs slotted against his hipbones, and Lance smiles softly against Keith’s lips. He can feel the way his jaw works, hands still cupping his cheeks, feels how it matches with the movement of Keith’s mouth on his own.

They break away after a long moment, reluctant, and Lance revels in the hazy look in Keith’s eyes, his lips kissed red.

“Hey there, gorgeous.” Lance says, beaming. Keith lets out a little laugh, pulling Lance closer by the grip he has on his hips until they're chest-to-chest.

“Hi,” he hums, lips still inviting, quirking up into a small smile.

Lance leans back down, pressing another kiss to his lips before peppering them all over his face, not letting up even when Keith laughs and tries to push him off, his eyes squeezed closed and crinkled at the corners with how wide he’s grinning. Lance slows, kissing each freckle and beauty mark that dots Keith’s face before leaving one last kiss on his lips, pulling back.

“You know you’re never gonna get rid of me now, right?” He says, letting his hands fall from Keith’s face to wrap his arms around his neck. Keith just smiles easy, eyes sparkling.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

 

✦

 

Keith’s hand in Lance’s feels right.

He can feel the callouses on Keith’s palm and fingers where they interlace, the rough skin strangely calming in its familiarity. Lance feels kind of giddy over it, grinning at Keith and swinging their hands slightly between them.

He probably looks either insane or whipped to anyone else, but being with Keith makes him feel like both are true.

As they approach the cafe, Keith suddenly stops, making Lance almost lose his grip on his hand.

“Keith?” He asks. Keith worries his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes locked on the cafe before looking at Lance.

“They seriously _all_ know that we were─” He flushes, glancing back briefly. “Y’know…”

Lance offers a smirk. “Fucking? Yeah, they know.”

Keith’s face colors deeper red as he shoots Lance a glare. “I just wanted to make sure. You don’t have to be so blunt about it.”

Keith finally moves to catch up with Lance, who squeezes his hand in response. “It’s part of my charm, babe.”

Keith grumbles something under his breath, but squeezes Lance’s hand back. Lance’s heart skips several beats, and a giddy smile makes its way onto his face as he looks at Keith, who─despite his best efforts to seem calm and collected─looks just as happy as Lance is.

It takes only another minute of walking before Lance is pulling open the entrance to the cafe, still keeping his and Keith’s hands intertwined as they cross the threshold.

Hunk is the first one to look up from the group’s table, and as soon as he sees the two of them in the doorway, he loudly says: “Oh, thank _god,_ they finally got together. _”_

That makes the rest of the group look up quickly after, collectively releasing a sigh of relief at the sight of the two of them that makes Lance’s face flush with a mix of embarrassment and pride. Because on one hand, they are very much in public and having an uncomfortable amount of attention drawn to them. But on the other hand... _fuck yeah_ they’re together.

Keith seems to be in a different state, glaring at the group with his face burning bright red. His grip on Lance’s hand tightens as they make their way over to the table. A few random whistles from other customers seated follow them, and Lance stands up a bit straighter with pride. Keith looks more embarrassed by it, if that’s possible, and drags him over to the booth, sliding into the seat and averting his eyes from the knowing, smug looks from their friends.

(Lance would almost be convinced that he hated it if it weren’t for the equally giddy smile on his face.)

“Congrats,” Pidge says, monotone voice portraying disinterest, but the small smile on her face telling a different story. “Hopefully now Keith will stop texting me whenever you even look at him.”

Keith sputters while Shiro laughs, clapping Keith’s shoulder.

“I’m glad that the whole, uh, mishap between you two got cleared up.” Allura says, raising an eyebrow at Keith, a slightly smug smile gracing her expression.

“Yeah,” Keith replies, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry about that, ‘Lura.”

“Water under the bridge.” She says, waving him off.

“Oh god, they’re gonna be disgusting with PDA, aren’t they.” Hunk says suddenly, as if he’s just realizing. Keith groans, burying his face in his free hand, but Lance just beams. He brings their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of Keith’s hand. It just makes his face turn redder─Lance has always reveled in making Keith blush that hard, but there’s something about being able to do it with tiny displays of affection that makes his heart swell.

“You’re proving my point, dude!” Hunk groans. “Ew, ew, I can never not knock now.”

“Why did you not before?” Pidge says, the same time as Shiro matter-of-factly says, “At least you didn’t walk in on them naked.” Hunk practically shrieks, clapping his hands over his ears, and Lance splutters, face going red.

“We weren’t _naked!”_ He screeches. Keith has his face practically shoved against the table, like he’s hoping that if the slams himself into it hard enough he’ll disappear from the cafe entirely. Shiro just meets Lance's gaze, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tries to remain serious

“I hate you. I _hate_ you. I knew coming here was a bad idea.” Keith says, voice muffled by the table.

“Aw, you don’t though.” Lance coos, planting a kiss on top of his head with an over exaggerated _smooch_ sound. “You loooove me!”

Keith groans again, eyeing Lance warily from where he refuses to move his head. Eventually, Keith smiles back at Lance, eyes softening as the rest of the table moves on to random chatter.

There’s something about the way Keith looks at him now─the way he’s looked at him for a while, before Lance was smart enough to realize─that makes Lance melt. His dark eyes going soft and glittery, warm brown in the light of the cafe. Lance’s chest feels a little lighter, a new sensation spreading to the rest of his body as he feels himself falling all over again, just from one simple look.

Later, they’ll go back to the conversation, and even later they’ll walk back to Keith’s dorm, holding each other’s hands as they chatter aimlessly, rambling about everything from class to date ideas that they have, and exchanging soft looks before laughing quietly and teasing each other for their shared fondness.

But for now, they’re in this cafe, surrounded by their friends and strangers and the smell of caffeine, lost in each other, if only for a moment.

Lance can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.

 

✦

 

Things are different after Lance and Keith get together officially. For one, Lance can kiss him whenever he wants, now, and he takes the opportunity as often as he can (much to their friends’ disgust). He holds Keith’s hand when they walk together and revels in the blush it gets him, gives him a kiss when he gets answers right during study sessions.

But some things are familiar.

Like the way Keith gasps as Lance bites at his neck, his hands grabbing at Lance’s shirt, tugging at the hem and trying to tug it off.

“Lance,” He pants, pulling at his shirt harder. “Too many clothes.”

Lance snickers, pressing one more soothing kiss to Keith’s red-bitten neck before he leans up to pull his shirt off. Keith is reaching for Lance’s belt before he even gets his shirt over his head, deftly undoing the buckle and tossing it to the ground. He fumbles with the button of his pants, and Lance moves off of Keith to shuck them off and discard them in a messy pile on the floor. Keith pulls down his own pants, kicking off his boxers along with them.

“Not taking my shirt off?” Lance asks, eyebrow raised as he pulls his own boxers down. Keith shakes his head, tugging at the sleeve of his baseball tee, face already flushing.

“I like wearing it,” He mumbles. His face is red, hair already mussed up and eyes averted shyly.

“God, I love you.” Lance responds, quickly clambering back onto the bed and gently pushing Keith back against the pillows, melding their lips together. He savors how Keith melts into it, how his arms wrap around Lance’s neck and pull him closer. Lance grinds his hips down against Keith’s, and they both groan, the kiss turing messy.

“Fuck me,” Keith says against Lance’s lips. He’s always been nothing but blunt when it comes to what he wants, but Lance still shivers, rolling his hips against Keith’s again for the relieving friction.

Reluctantly, he pulls away from the kiss, smiling at the slightly dazed look on Keith’s face and reaching for the well-loved bottle of lube in his nightstand drawer, plucking a condom from Keith’s stash while he’s at it. Keith takes all of two seconds to get the memo, sitting up a bit. His eyes follow Lance’s movements as he squeezes some of the lube out onto his fingers, warming it up slightly.

Lance grins, settling comfortably between Keith’s thighs and using his free hand to push the splay of his legs wider. Keith is silent while Lance reaches down, teasing his fingertips at his rim, but Lance knows him well enough at this point that he can tell he’s excited. He sees it in the helpless little jerk his hips give, how his blush deepens red and starts to creep down his neck.

“Ready?” Lance asks. Keith glares at him.

“For fuck’s sake Lance, you’ve done this enough times─

Keith’s sentence breaks off into a sharp gasp when Lance finally pushes a finger into him, thrusting in and out slowly. Keith screws his eyes shut, hips already rolling fluidly into the movement. His mouth opens, and Lance knows well enough to anticipate the command, sliding another finger into Keith and earning himself a soft, pleased sigh.

“You always look good like this,” Lance says, scissoring his fingers inside Keith and bringing a gasping moan from his throat. “So pretty, just for me.” Keith’s face flushes an even darker red, and he starts to move his hips back at the same pace Lance is pushing into him.

“That’s─ _nnh,_ sappy,” he manages, his attempted indifference completely ruined by how he _looks_ right now. Dark hair haloed out on the pillow, Lance’s shirt slipping down his collarbone, eyebrows pinched together as he tries to fuck himself harder on Lance’s fingers.

“Mmm, but you like it.” Lance retorts, pushing another finger into Keith alongside the first two. He leans in, pressing wet kisses up Keith’s neck and starting to suck when he gets to a particularly sensitive spot on the underside of his jaw.

“Lance, that's enough, c’mon,” Keith urges. Lance languidly leaves marks down the smooth skin of his neck, taking his time and loving how impatient Keith gets.

“You sure about that, gorgeous?” He asks, crooking his fingertips against Keith’s prostate and making him arch off the mattress, a moan tearing from his throat.

“I'm _ready.”_ Keith says insistently, his tone verging into frustration. Lance _tsks,_ pulling his fingers free with an obscene squelch of lube and sitting back on his heels.

He pulls Keith closer by his hips, situating his thighs over Lance’s legs and taking a moment to admire how he looks, spread out on the bed like this. His dick is hard and leaking against his stomach, Lance’s shirt rucked up around his waist and the collar askew from how it fits his slightly smaller frame.

“Sure you're ready?” Lance asks, taking his neglected cock in hand and stroking slowly, smirking at how Keith’s eyes are drawn down to it. Keith licks his lips, sitting up and hooking his legs behind Lance’s knees, tugging him forward and making him fall backwards on the bed with a startled yelp.

Keith straddles him easily, their positions effectively switched, and picks up the condom Lance had taken earlier, ripping it open and rolling it down Lance’s length. He stares at Lance as he does, eyes dark with want, and he can't do anything but blink back dumbly, hands lightly holding onto Keith’s hips. Keith raises himself to his knees, reaching behind himself and lining up Lance’s cock with his entrance. He doesn't break eye contact even as he sinks down.

A low moan pulls from Lance’s throat at the tight heat surrounding his cock, and he watches Keith’s eyes flutter shut, his breath hitching as Lance slowly, _slowly_ bottoms out inside him.

“Fuck, baby.” Lance breathes, and Keith honest-to-god _whines._ Lance looks up at him, a bit surprised.

“You like that?” He asks, squeezing Keith’s hips. _“Baby.”_ This time, he sees how Keith’s cock twitches, pre pooling from the tip.

“F-fuck,” Keith manages. Then he’s bracing his hands on Lance’s thighs, lifting himself up nearly halfway before rolling his hips down again, gasping. Lance sits up, leaning up to kiss Keith as he starts to move with him, swallowing the moan that bubbles up from his mouth when Lance thrusts up the same time as Keith rolls his hips down against him.

Then Keith is pressing a hand to his chest, pushing him back against the mattress and smiling at his shocked expression as he grinds down against him. He leans down, kissing the confusion off Lance’s face before he sits up again, starting to set a steady, painfully slow pace.

“Let me do the work.” He says. Lance groans, head lolling back against the blankets.

“God, Keith…” he breathes, gripping Keith’s hips as he rolls them easily, picking himself up a bit more each time but keeping the same painfully slow pace.

“Mmh…” Keith hums, pleased as he takes more and more of Lance’s dick with each thrust. “You always compliment me, Lance. Always saying how pretty I am, how good I look, but I really wish you could see _yourself.”_ He says, voice low and sending shivers up Lance’s spine. Judging by the ways the corners of Keith’s mouth twitch, he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“You look _ethereal._ You’re always glowing—look so fucking good. You’re so good for me, Lance. So gorgeous. I’m so lucky,” He continues, grinding his hips down so Lance is pressed in _deep,_ and fuck, he’s in heaven right now. He can't help but moan at the feeling of it—fully sheathed in Keith’s slick, tight heat, his walls fluttering around Lance’s cock and his words making warmth pool low in his stomach.

His hips buck up against Keith, but Keith just presses them down against the bed, clicking his tongue. He smiles softly even as Lance whimpers, even as he keeps his hips pinned to the bed and moves so torturously _slow._

“You're always taking such good care of me, darlin’.” He says, voice low and rough and unfairly hot. “Let me return the favor.”

Then he’s lifting himself up almost to the head of Lance’s cock and, before Lance can process what’s happening, he sinks back down.

It’s slow—slower than they’ve ever gone before. Their time together had usually been fast, quickly jacking each other off or giving each other messy blowjobs. It was rare that they’d ever get to change the pace, so the speed that Keith is sinking back down on Lance is the best combination of torture and bliss.

“Keith,” Lance moans. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

“So do— _ah,_ so do you.” Keith replies. Then, suddenly, his back arches, letting out a longer, louder moan.

“Shit, baby, was that your spot?” Lance asks, fingers digging into Keith’s hips. Keith nods, lifting himself to angle there again and pushing back down a bit faster. Lance sits up, planting his feet onto the mattress and thrusting up into Keith’s welcoming heat.

Keith bites into his bottom lip, little whimpering moans coming through despite his attempts to muffle himself. Lance pulls him closer, lifting his hips up a bit and pulling him back down on his cock. Keith shudders all the way up from the base of his spine, wrapping his arms around Lance’s shoulders and tucking his flushed face into the crook of his neck.

“Ah─Keith,” Lance gasps, his hips hitching up and grinding against Keith’s ass as best he can in this position. “Fuck, m’close.”

“Me too,” Keith murmurs, shuddering when Lance hits his prostate again. “Shit─touch me?” He gasps, looking at Lance innocently despite the situation. Lance wastes no time getting a hand between them, curling his fingers around Keith’s dick and jerking him off with quick twists of his wrist.

“Keith,” he moans, hips jerking helplessly. “Baby─love you,” He babbles out incoherent praise as he releases into the condom, biting into Keith’s neck. Keith comes a second later, cock pulsing in Lance’s hand and cum spilling over his fingers.

It takes a few moments before Lance works up enough energy to sit up, bringing his hand away from Keith’s softening dick and slowly pulling out. Keith grimaces at the feeling, relaxing once Lance is all the way out, letting his eyes flutter shut while Lance sets out to clean up.

He wipes off his hand and tugs the condom off, tying it closed and tossing both the tissues and condom into the trash can. He takes another few tissues to wipe the excess lube off of Keith, tossing them into the trash as well once he’s done. He grabs both their boxers and hands Keith’s to him, pulling his own on and clambering back into bed. Keith immediately cuddles up next to him, pulling the blankets over them both.

“Love you too,” Keith mumbles, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. Lances smiles, lifting a hand to tuck a few stray pieces of Keith’s hair behind his ear.

“Was that good?” He asks, voice soft to avoid disturbing the quiet moment.

“You do realize you don’t have to ask me that every time we have sex, right?” Keith teases. Lance pouts, drawing a small laugh from Keith. He presses a gentle kiss against a purple mark on Lance’s neck.

“Of course it was good,” Keith replies. “Perfect, even. _You’re_ perfect.”

“Careful with the compliments, babe,” Lance jokes, distantly feeling the tempting lull of sleep pulling at him. “I don’t think either of us are up for a second round.”

Keith snickers, cuddling closer to Lance and letting his eyes flutter shut. “Go to sleep already, loser.”

“M’kay. Love you,” Lance says, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Keith’s messy hair. He’s pretty sure Keith says it back, low in his chest as he starts to drift off.

It takes a bit longer for Lance to give in to sleep, instead reveling in the boy in his arms. He gently rubs his hand up and down Keith’s arm, smiling down at him even as he starts to snore quietly, his face squished against Lance’s chest.

He can't believe he's this lucky.

He’s never been more glad to have taken a stupid astrophysics class.

**Author's Note:**

> rb this fic on tumblr if you can!!
> 
>  
> 
> [erica's tumblr](http://heavenlyagate.tumblr.com/)  
> [keith's tumblr](http://killproof.tumblr.com/tagged/my-writing)


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